
Class S fiiq I 

Rnnlc - MZ-ht- J 
Copyright N° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






j> ^-v^ 



THE A B C OF 

CORN 
CULTURE 

Or, Making Two Nubbins to Grow Where Only One Grew Before. 
By Prof. P. G. Holden — Iowa State College. 




THE WHITING TROPHY 



PLANTING AND TESTING AND HARVESTING INSECTS AND 
CULTIVATING GRADING AND STORING REMEDIES 



FULLY ILLUSTRATED 



The Simmons Publishing Co 
Springfield, Ohio. 



"And he gave it for his opinion, that who- 
ever could make two ears of corn or two blades 
of grass to grow upon a spot of ground where 
only one grew before, would deserve better of 
mankind and do more essential service to his 
country than the whole race of politicians put 
together." - Dean Swift. 



The Whiting Trophy 

(SEE FRONT COVER PAGE) 

Awarded annually by Hon. W. C. Whiting for the best 
ten ears of corn, any variety, exhibited at the Short Course, 
held at Ames, Iowa, the first two weeks in January, each 
year. Cost $450.00. 



The Cook Trophy 

{SEE BACK COVER PAGE) 

This trophy, costing $1 ,600.00, was presented to the 
Iowa State College by Mr. A. E. Cook, of Odebolt, Iowa, and 
is awarded annually at the International Live Stock Exposi- 
tion to the winning corn-judging team from any Agricultural 
College. 



PRESS OF THE SIMMONS PUBLISHING CO., SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



THE ABC 



OF 



CORN CUL TURE 



BY 

PROF. P. G. HOLDEN 

IOWA STATE COLLEGE 



Copyrighted, 1906 
By THE SIMMONS PUBLISHING CO. 



THE SIMMONS PUBLISHING CO. 

Springfield, Ohio 

1906 



UCI H4 1906 

,. CaoyrigiU Entry . 
CLASS A XXc, No, 

./<r<? 71, L 

COPY B. 




CHAPTER I 



THE CORN CROP 

Preparing the Ground, Planting and Cultivating the Crop 

There is no one best method suited to all sections, or to the 
different soils of a section, nor even to the different fields of the 
same farm. Frequently two very different methods may give 
equally good results. There are no "ironclad" rules which may 
be followed blindly for the growing of corn any more than in 
other farm work. "Have good ground, do the work on time 
and do it thoroughly," should be the motto of every corn grower 

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD GROUND 

Nothing can make up for poor ground. Too many are trying 
to raise corn on old "worn-out" ground that has produced corn, 
oats and wheat for years. I met a man at an institute in Illi- 
nois who said in all seriousness that he was satisfied the seasons 
were less favorable for corn growing than they used to be, as he 
could get no such crops as he used to raise. Inquiry developed 
that he had grown corn for seventeen years in succession on the 
same piece of ground. No wonder the "seasons were becom- 
ing less favorable." 

Let us remember that it was but a few years ago that the 
farms of the corn belt were broken from the virgin soil, and that 
because we have been able to crop the ground continuously in 
the past is no assurance that we may continue to do so in the 
future with profit. The fact is that the time is near at hand 
when we must give greater attention to* the fertility of our soil, 
to the conserving and restoring of the elements of plant food, or 
we shall soon be compelled to pay out millions of dollars annually 
for these elements in the form of commercial fertilizers, as is 
now being done in the East. 

The tremendous importance attached to this question can- 
not be appreciated by those who have had no experience in the 
use of commercial fertilizers in the older settled parts of our 
country. 

—3— 



What is needed is more clover, better use of barnyard manure, 
and less of the continuous cropping with corn, oats and wheat. 

FALL PLOWING FOR CORN 

There is a great diversity of opinion regarding the merits 
of fall and spring plowing even in the same neighborhood. Among 
the advantages of fall plowing are the following : 

First: The work is done at the slackest time of the year, 
when both men and teams would otherwise be idle. 

Second: Having the ground already plowed in the spring 
sives us time to better prepare the ground, and, what is of equal 
importance, to get our corn in on time. 

Third: A better prepared and a warmer seed bed, and con- 
sequently a better stand of corn. 

Fourth: Less danger from insect enemies, especially in the 
case of sod ground. 

Fifth: Weeds are prevented from seeding, and the seeds al- 
ready in the ground will mostly germinate and be killed by the 
fall freezes before they have seeded. This is especially true of 
early fall plowing. 

Some disadvantages of fall plowing are: 

First: Occasional losses from blowing and washing on roll- 
ing ground. 

Second: Unless the ground is disked early in the spring 
there is a loss of moisture and a consequent "firing" of the corn 
during the latter part of July and August, especially in dry 
seasons. 

Third: The fall plowing does not give as good an oppor- 
tunity to spread manure during the late summer and through 
the winter. 

During the year 1904 the soils department of the Iowa State 
College conducted experiments with fall and spring plowing in 
different parts of Iowa, and in every case the yield of corn was 
greater on the fall plowing than on the spring plowing. The 
evidence is generally in favor of the fall plowing in the corn belt, 
but results will vary greatly with the method of handling the 
ground in the spring. 

The mistake is commonly made of leaving the fall-plowed 
ground without disking until time to plant. The ground has 
become packed by snow and rain, and should be disked or har- 



rowed as soon as the oat seeding is over. This will conserve 
the moisture and lessen the firing of the corn in August, so com- 
mon to fall plowing. 

Ground that is very rolling and likely to wash should not 
be plowed in the fall. Early fall plowing of stubble ground is 
usually advisable when the ground is very weedy. In the corn 
belt, where the area put into corn is large and the corn-planting 
period is short, it is the best kind of management to plow all 
stubble and sod ground in the fall. 




Photo by A. D. Shame/ . 

Fig. 1 — Root development of a single corn plant at time of "laying by." The roots 
do not run straight down from the stalk, as many suppose. Deep cultivation the first 
time over the field will not injure the corn; it will clean the ground and leave a good 
mulch. The experiments all show that deep cultivation after this always reduces the yield. 



LATE PLANTING BAD 

We should bear in mind that one of the most serious losses 
to the corn crop every year is due to late planting. Experi- 
ments show that late-planted corn seldom yields as much as 
that planted earlier, and the quality is inferior. The ground 
becomes hard and out of condition, the weeds have drawn upon 



the moisture and available plant food, the crop comes to the 
dry spell in a more critical stage, the proportion of barren stalks 
is greater, and it matures more slowly, contains more water and 
is much more likely to be caught by the frost. 

Every year thousands of farmers lose heavily from late 
planting. Many of these are good farmers, but are unex- 
pectedly delayed with the spring work, by a combination 
of bad weather, sick horses and scarcity of help. 

This matter of readiness in the spring is of great importance 
in the corn belt, and is made all the more so because it is prac- 
tically impossible to secure outside help at this time of the year. 

PLOW STUBBLE GROUND EARLY 

Let me say again, it is generally advisable to plow stubble 
ground early in the fall. 

First: Because the weeds which have been started will be 
prevented from seeding, and the weed seeds will be brought 
near to the surface, where they will germinate and be killed by 
the frost before they have seeded in the fall. 

Second: This second growth of volunteer oats, weeds, etc., 
will protect the ground during the winter and keep the soil from 
blowing. The late fall plowing has no second growth and blows 
worse in the winter. 

Third: There is more spare time for the work. If the stub- 
ble ground is left for late fall plowing it is apt to crowd the plow- 
ing of sod over into spring, which is bad practice generally. 

LATE FALL PLOWING BEST FOR SOD 

The reasons for plowing sod ground in the late fall are: 

First: It gives us the benefit of late summer pasture, and 
in case of clover a second crop for seed or to turn under to enrich 
the ground. 

Second: It is the best possible place to spread the barnyard 
manure during August and September, as there is the least dan- 
ger of washing or leaching. 

Third: The ground can be much better prepared and with 
less work than when plowed in the spring. 

Fourth: There is less danger from damage by cutworms 
and other insect enemies. There are many instances this year 

—6— 



where the ground froze last fall before the "plowing of the field 
was completed. The corn on the portion that remained over 
and was plowed in the spring was frequently greatly injured 
by cutworms and had to be replanted. 

It may often be advisable to leave some ground on which 
to spread manure during the winter. In this case it had better 
be the clover sod rather than the timothy or the blue grass. 

Where clover is seeded with the oats or barlev for fertilizing; 




Fig. 2 — The effect of injury to the coin loots. The coin in both strips received or- 
dinary cultivation. The strip on the right was root-pruned four inches deep — that is 
the roots were cut, or pruned, with a rolling cutter adjusted to run four inches deep and 
about seven inches from the row. The root pruning was done after each cultivation and 
in the same diiection as the cultivator was run. The difference in the giowth of the corn 
is very noticeable. The experiment was repeated four times. The coin root-piuned four 
inches deep yielded fifteen bushels per acie Jess than that which was not piuned. Scores 
of carefully conducted experiments all go to show that injury to the roots reduces the yield 
of corn. The greatest damage is generally the result of allowing the shovels next to 
the* row of corn to run too deeply, especially during the last two cultivations. Many 
seem to think that because they are "laying by" the com, and will not get another chance 
at it, they must give it what is called a "good laying by." Injury to the roots also tends 
to make the coin later in maturing, chaffy and inferior in quality. 

purposes, or where rape is sown in the oats for fall feed, it will, 
of course, be necessary to plow late in the fall. 

BETTER ATTENTION TO FALL-PLOWED GROUND 

The fall-plowed ground is often neglected in the spring and 
left to dry out, and the weeds are allowed to get a good start, 
robbing the ground of moisture and food. Not only should the 
fall plowing be disked as soon as oat seeding is over, but the corn 
stubble as well. When cornstalk ground is disked early in the 
spring the moisture is saved, the stubs are cut up and mixed with 



the soil, giving less trouble during cultivation, and a better seed 
bed is secured, also. If not disked, the surface is turned to the 
bottom of the furrow in a lumpy condition, where neither har- 
row, disk nor cultivator will reach it. 

SPRING PLOWING ABUSED 

We often abuse our spring plowing by turning the earth up 
to the sun and dry winds to bake and dry out, depending upon 
a shower to mellow the ground before planting time. 

With spring plowing it is a good rule never to leave the 
field at noon or night without harrowing the ground that has 
been plowed. In my estimation no ground can be properly 
prepared, giving a good seed bed for corn, without the use of the 
disk. A half-prepared seed bed means a poor stand of corn and 
an uneven growth, and the corn will suffer more from drought 
and other unfavorable conditions. 

DEPTH TO PLOW 

What is known as deep plowing is not advisable in the corn 
belt, although the loose soils and bottom lands may be plowed 
much deeper than the heavy clay soils or the black prairie soils 
Avith less danger of bad results. There is seldom any advan- 
tage in plowing more than six inches deep, either in spring or 
fall. If the ground is to be plowed deeper than formerly, it 
should be done in the fall. On heavy soils the bad effects of 
too deep plowing are often apparent for several years. 

TOO DEEP PLANTING 

Too deep planting is especially bad when the seed is weak 
or the spring is cold and backward. When the ground is not 
well prepared or is very mellow, there is danger of putting the 
seed down four or five inches when two inches would be better. 
Especial care should be taken in case of early planting when 
the ground is still cold. 

There were several cases last spring where the seed from 
the same sack was planted in two different fields, giving a good 
stand in one and a very poor stand in the other. Investigation 
showed that the poor stand was due to deep planting. Corn is 
generally planted deeper than we think. The planter wheels 



frequently sink into the earth two or more inches and the corn 
is covered another two inches. The planter tracks are then 
filled in by harrowing the field, and the corn is often more than 
four inches deep. We often watch the planter carefully for a 
few rounds, then pay no more attention to the depth of planting-. 
The soil is mellower as we get away from the headland, and con- 
sequently the corn is planted deeper than we supposed. 

A DRY, MEALY SURFACE BAD 

On the other hand, there is no more serious mistake than 
shallow planting in lumpy, dry, mealy soil. The moisture is 




Fig. 3 — Photograph of the famous corn plant in the Iowa exhibit at the Louisiana 
Purchase Exposition. This shows the root development of the plant when the corn is 
in the milky stage. Many of these roots are more than five feet in length. 

not sufficient for rapid germination, the seed soaks up slowly, 
much of it sours or rots, and the remainder comes up unevenly 
with a large per cent, of sickly, plants. This condition is most 
frequently found where the spring plowing was not followed by 
the harrow the same day or where the disk was not used in pre- 
paring the seed bed, and especially when these two conditions 
are accompanied by a dry, cold May. 

—9— 



STRAIGHT ROWS AND EVEN CHECKING 

The' yield of corn is often reduced and the work of cultiva- 
tion made slow and difficult because of carelessness in handling 
the planter. Uneven checking may be due to several causes. 
In the case of short fields we generally draw the wire too tight 
and the planter checks too quick both ways. On long fields 
we are apt to check ahead, owing to slack in the wire, and this 
is especially true where the tongue of the planter is raised too 
high and the team walks fast. In the case of irregular shaped 
fields the checking is apt to be bad. This is especially true 
where the ends of the field are not at right angles with the rows. 
In this case there will be a jog every four rows, the amount de- 
pending upon how much the field is out of square. 

Carelessness in setting the anchor is the cause of much poor 
checking. It is a common practice to draw the wire about so 
tight at both ends of the field. It is a much better plan to al- 
ways set the anchor on line at one end of the field, while at the 
other end the anchor should be drawn to a certain tightness. 

CULTIVATION 

Cultivation should be level and frequent when the corn is 
small. It may be deep at first, but it must be shallow later. 

It is not possible at this time to go much into details, and 
of course methods will vary greatly with local conditions, but 
there are a few things of importance that are often overlooked. 

Many assume that there is nothing more to do after the 
corn is planted for two weeks, or until it is up and large enough 
for the first cultivation. There are others who believe in har- 
rowing, and even in cultivation, before the corn is up, but on 
account of the pressure of work neglect it. Where ground is left 
two weeks and often longer it becomes foul with weeds, which 
take up the moisture and plant food and also make it difficult 
to work the corn. The ground becomes packed by the rains 
and baked by the sun until it is hard and dry — that is, "out of 
condition." 

It is especially important in the case of corn that it should 
not become stunted when young, as it never fully recovers even 
under the most favorable conditions. 

—10— 



We should keep a good, mellow, lively tilth until the corn 
shades the ground, preventing the rain and sun from beating 
upon it, making it hard, dry and mealy. 

The time to kill weeds is before they come up and before they 
have deprived the corn of moisture and nourishment. 

CULTIVATE BEFORE THE CORN COMES UP 

Where it is possible to do so it is a good plan to cultivate 
the corn once before it comes up, following the cultivator with 
the harrow. If the piece is so small that the cultivation can 




Photo by A. D. Shamel. 
Fig. 4 — Four hills of corn at earing time, in natural position in the field, three feet 
eight inches apart. The surface soil was washed off as deep as the ground was plowed in 
the sprinf?, exposing the roots. Few realize how completely the ground is filled with the 
corn roots. Thorough early cultivation before the roots have developed is important. 
Experiments show that deep cultivation at the time of "laying by" greatly reduces the 
yield, especially when the first and second cultivations were shallow, thus allowing the 
roots to come near the surface. 



be finished before the corn breaks through the surface, it is well 
enough to wait until the field is all cultivated and then cross it 
with the harrow instead of following close behind the cultivator. 
However, in the case of large fields it is best to follow the culti- 
vator with the harrow. This practice of cultivating the field 
before the corn is up, following the planter marks as a guide, is 
a good one, and especially on old and badly worn ground or 
heavy clay ground and on land that has become foul. 

It is a common practice with some to harrow corn after it 



is up, but I prefer to cultivate and harrow as described above, 
especially on cornstalk ground. Even on stubble ground the 
harrow does considerable damage to the young corn. No one 
can afford to do less than to thoroughly harrow the ground be- 
fore the corn comes up. It is a serious mistake to let our corn 
ground get out of condition in the spring. 

It is also a very common mistake to cultivate shallow when 
the corn is small and "lay it by" with a deep cultivation. The 
reverse will be more profitable. There is little danger to the 
roots from deep cultivation the first time, and there is great ad- 
vantage in going deep enough to secure a good mulch. 

The later cultivations should be no deeper than is necessary 
to keep the ground clean. Many cultivate corn as though the 




Ere 5 — "A rotation which does not include clover is hardly worthy the name." Photo 
taken June 20th. The corn on both sides of the road was planted the same day and with 
seed from the same sack. The field on the right has been in corn continuously for three 
years. The field on the left is on clover sod, plowed in the fall. The rotation is clover, 
corn and oats, one year each. Firs*, the corn is much more vigorous on the clover-sod 
ground, and has a deeper green color; second, at this time (August 13th) the clover-sod 
corn is standing up well, while the third-year-continuous corn is badly down, due to the 
work of the corn-root worm. 

roots went straight down instead of spreading out through the 
surface of the soil. It is very essential that we disturb the roots 
as little as possible when the corn is laid by. We are very apt 
to feel that as this is our last chance at the corn we must give it 
a "good laying by," and especially if the weeds have gotten a 
start. 

AFTER-CULTIVATION NOT PROFITABLE 

After-cultivation — that is, the cultivation with a one-horse 
cultivator after the corn is too large for the two-horse culti- 
vator — is not good practice generally. Even if the weeds have 
gotten a start, they will do less damage to the corn than will be 
done by the root pruning of the cultivator. The weeds have 



already done their greatest damage except in seeding for next 
year. The damage will frequently be considerable from the 
breaking down of the corn, and especially if it has been injured 
by the root worm or by the white grubs or wireworms and has 
gone down in places. 

RAPE IN CORN PROFITABLE 

The sowing of rape in corn at the time of laying by is com- 
ing rapidly into more general practice. The rape should be sown 
at the rate of six or eight pounds per acre, before the corn is 
laid by and cultivated in. Where the seed is sown broadcast 
it is well to sow down through the field and back in the same 
place, sowing but half enough seed the first time and the other 
half coming back. This will insure a better distribution of the 
seed. 

After the middle of September the lambs may be turned 
in to pasture the rape and the lower leaves of the corn, but it 
will be a better practice generally to allow the rape to grow un- 
til the corn is husked, and then turn in the sheep, hogs, and cat- 
tle other than milch cows. In this way a remarkable amount of 
sheep and hog feed is produced at comparatively little cost. 



-13— 



CHAPTER 11 



PREPARATION OF THE SEED FOR THE PLANTER, 

OR MAKING TWO NUBBINS OF CORN TO 

GROW WHERE BUT ONE GREW BEFORE 

Poor seed means a poor stand, with missing hills, one-stalk 
hills, and weak stalks producing little or nothing. It means wasted 
land and wasted labor; it means less than thirty bushels of corn per 
acre in. this "corn belt" instead of forty or fifty bushels. 

In this chapter I shall attempt to describe the methods 
which have done most to enable us to produce "another nubbin 
of corn to each hill." I shall spend little, if any, time discussing 
those things which we do well enough ordinarily, but I do want 
to j°g y° u to the importance of doing three or four simple things 
which most of us have failed to do in the past, but must do in 
the future if we are to secure the greatest possible returns for 
each year's labor and from each acre of land. 

YIELD OF CORN IS LOW 

The average yield of corn in the United States is less than 
twenty-five bushels per acre, yet there are hundreds and thou- 
sands of farmers who produce sixty and seventy, and even 
eighty and ninety, bushels per acre. I have in mind scores of 
instances where of two fields just across the road from each 
other, or perhaps adjoining, but on different farms, one yielded 
more than seventy bushels and the other less than twenty, yet 
the land values were the same and the labor required to produce 
the twenty-bushel crop as great as to produce the seventy- 
bushel crop. If one man can produce sixty and seventy bushels 
per acre, the other man can do it also, and not only that, but 
must do it if we are to achieve our agricultural possibilities. 

A POOR STAND, AND WEAK STALKS PRODUCING LITTLE OR 

NOTHING, IS THE GREATEST CAUSE OF A 

LOW YIELD OF CORN 

In the corn belt it is customary to plant corn in hills three 
and one-half feet apart each way, three kernels per hill, thus 



making 3,556 hills to the acre, or 10,668 stalks if each kernel 
grows. If two of the stalks in each hill bore nothing, but the 
other grew a very small ear weighing only eight ounces (140 ears 
to the bushel), we would then have twenty-five bushels per 
acre, or more than the average for the United States. What 
we must do is to make at least two of these three stalks produce 
an eight-ounce ear each, and we will have over fifty bushels per 
acre; and there are many who will not be content until they 
have two of those stalks produce a twelve-ounce ear each and 




Pig. 6 — First Step in Preparing Corn for the Planter. Laying out the Ears on the Table 

for Study. 



the third an eight-ounce nubbin, making one hundred bushels 
per acre. This has often been done in the past, and it will be 
a common thing in the future. 

One twelve-ounce ear per hill will make thirty-eight bushels 
per acre. Think of it for a moment. Last year Iowa produced 
one of her most magnificent crops of corn, yet if two of the three 
stalks per hill produced nothing and the other bore a medium- 
sized ear weighing only twelve ounces, we would have thirty- 
ei^ht bushels per acre, or more than the average yield of this 

— T5— 



great crop. Iowa must produce another nubbin to the hill, 
and so must the rest of the United States! 

A good stand of corn, and every stalk producing just a 
medium ear, as I have illustrated, will give us a good yield of 
corn of fifty, sixty, or even seventy or eighty, bushels per acre. 
Then why are we not getting it? 

First: Because there are too many missing hills and one- 
stalk hills — hills that are producing nothing or only half what 




Fig. 7 — Second Step. Discarding the Poor Ears. 
The ears should be laid out side by side, and two or more kernels removed from each 
ear and placed in front of their respective ears. By then examining the ears and kernels, 
the undesirable ears may be discarded. The importance of giving careful attention to 
this work can hardly be overestimated. In order to make a good selection it is necessary 
in the fall to save several times as much seed as will be required to plant. 

they ought to. The fields which I have examined in the great 
corn belt show that there is on an average more than one-third 
of the ground put into corn that is producing nothing, yet it 
must be cared for all summer, yielding nothing in return. 

Second: Because there are many thousands of stalks in our 
fields that are barren, producing no ears, and then there are many 
thousands of other stalks producing only small, inferior ears, yet 
they must receive the same care as the productive ones. 

—16— 



After having studied thousands of corn fields throughout 
the corn belt during the last nine years, I have no hesitancy in 
saying that a "poor stand" and "weak and barren stalks" are 
responsible more than anything else for the low average yield 
in the Central West. The ground may be rich, the preparation 
good, and the corn receive the best of cultivation, but if the 
stand is poor and the stalks are weak and sickly the yield will 
be correspondingly poor. 

COUNTS IN THOUSANDS OF FIELDS 

Careful counts of the number of stalks per hill have been 
made during the last three years in thousands of different corn 




Fig. 8 — Third Step. Six Kernels Have Been Taken from Each Ear and Placed in the 

Germination Box. 



fields, and it is safe to say that there were not to exceed sixty- 
six per cent, of a perfect stand on an average, and in many cases 
it fell as low as .forty per cent. This means that Iowa alone 
devoted nine million acres to corn and produced only a six- 
million-acre crop, or, to put it another way, with a perfect stand 
the present average yield of thirty-two bushels for the past ten 



years would be increased to fifty bushels per acre, or an increase 
to the state of one hundred and fifty-three million bushels. 
This does not take into consideration the increased yield made 
possible through the use of improved varieties, better bred seed, 
elimination of barren stalks by means of breeding, better methods 
of cultivation, etc. 

The real seriousness of the situation will be more apparent 
from the following counts illustrating the stand in the poorer, 
medium and better fields of Iowa. The following figures give 




Fig. 9— Fourth Step. Shelling Off the Butt and Tip Kernels. 



the number of stalks per hill in the poorer fields: 2, 2, 2, 0, 3, 2, 
0, 1, 3, 0, 1, 1. 1, 3, 1, 1, 0, 2, 3, 0, 1, 2. 1, 0, 0, 2, 1, 3. Each 
of the first three hill§ had two stalks, the fourth hill was missing, 
and the next had three stalks, etc. That the result might be 
as accurate as possible, counts similar to the above were made in 
three places in each field. The hills were tajven just as they 
came in the row, and generally crosswise of the way the corn 
Avas planted. The field above represents only fifty-two percent, 
of a stand of corn. Twenty-five per cent, of the hills were miss- 



ing, thirty-five per cent, had one stalk, twenty-five percent, had 
two stalks, and twenty per cent, had three stalks, per hill. If the 
poor stand was largely due to seed of low vitality, which is gen- 
erally true in case of very poor stands, then the same influence 
which killed a portion of the seed must also have greatly weak- 
ened that which did grow, and as a consequence the yield is of 
far less value than is represented by the stand. 

The above represents what is found in hundreds of corn 
fields everywhere. The following will illustrate very closely the 




Fig. 10— Fifth Step. 



Shelling Each Ear Separately, and Grading to Three Sizes of Kernels 
— Large, Medium and Small. 



average stand in the state: 2, 3, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 3, 3, 1, 3, 1, 2. 
2, 2, 3, 0, 3, 1, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2. On the average soil of the state 
this would represent about sixty-five per cent, of a stand of corn. 
Twelve per cent, of the hills were missing, twenty-eight per cent, 
of the hills had one stalk, thirty-two per cent, of the hills had 
two stalks, and twenty-eight per cent, of the hills had three 
stalks. 

The following represents the stand in one of the very best 
fields in the state: 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 



—19— 



3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3. In this field there were no hills missing, 
four hills had one stalk, twelve had two stalks, seventy-six had 
three stalks, and eight hills had four stalks. This represents 
not less than ninety-five per cent, of a perfect stand. 

If we go into our fields at husking time and make a study 
of the stand of corn, we will be convinced of the serious losses 
to ourselves and to the state each year from a poor stand of corn. 

POOR SEED 

"Poor seed" is more responsible for the "poor stand" and 
the "weak stalks" of corn than all other causes put together. 




Fig. 11— Sixth Step. 
After fifteen or twenty ears have been shelled and placed into the three grades, each 
grade should then be tested in the planter with the different sized plates. If these 
grades do not give satisfactory results in the planter, another fifteen or twenty ears 
should be shelled and more of the ears with the small kernels or with the large kernels 
put in the medium grade, as the case may require. After one or two tests of this kind 
have been made the remainder of the corn can be shelled and each ear placed in the grade 
in which it properly belongs. 

During the past three years many thousand samples of seed 
corn have been sent to the experiment station at Ames to be 
tested. These samples came from every section of the state, 
and were made up in each case of two hundred kernels taken, 
from one hundred ears, thus giving a representative of each man's 



I 

seed. These samples were given a careful germination test. 
This large number of tests shows that an average of seventeen per 
cent, was dead — that is, either the stem or root sprouts or both 
failed to grow — and that an additional nineteen per cent, was 
low in vitality and unfit to plant, leaving only sixty-four per 
cent, of good seed. It is also apparent that many of the kernels 
which give a fair germination are weakened, and in the event of 
a cold spring would either refuse to grow or give weak plants. 

If every person in the corn belt could have seen the germi- 
nation tests of these thousands of samples of corn it would not 
be necessary for me to appeal for the testing of six kernels from 
each ear of corn intended for seed. 



Number of 

the Samples 

Received 



Per Cent 
Giving Strong 
Germination 



Per Cent 

Weak 

Germination 



Per Cent 
Worthless 



213 


46 


32 


32 


614 


86 


10 


4 


6*7 


56 


20 


24 


1556 


70 


28 


2 


1426 


78 


12 


10 


166 


70 


10 


20 


1055 


64 


24 


12 


91 


40 


40 


20 


1061 


76 


14 


10 


1067 


60 


16 


24 


1219 


80 


16 


4 


S46 


88 


4 


8 


260 


60 


22 


18 


563 


36 


32 


32 


13 


70 


12 


18 


1127 


80 


20 





326 


66 


14 


20 


410 


52 


10 


38 


733 


80 


6 


14 


388 


64 


14 


22 


1126 


88 


6 


6 


637 


54 


18 


28 


186 


64 


16 


20 


1099 


84 


12 


4 


590 


52 


14 


34 


1046 


74 


18 


8 


125 


72 


10 


18 


341 


52 


24 


24 


1022 


50 


16 


34 


632 


92 


8 





Average. . . . 


66.8 


16.27 


16.93 



—21— 



The table on page twenty-one shows the test of thirty 
samples of corn, one sample being taken at random from each of 
thirty counties of Iowa. The average of these, as will be 
noticed, is a little above the average of the six thousand tests 
during the last three years, but it will bring out clearly the fact 
that poor seed does much to reduce the yield to one small ear 
per hill in the corn belt. 

STRONG GERMINATION NECESSARY 

It is quite generally supposed that if the seed sprouts in 
the spring it is all right. As a matter of fact much of it has 




Fig. 12 — Seventh Step. Picking Out the Black, Broken, Rotten Kernels— Kernels Which 
Will Take the Place of Good Kernels in the Planter Box and 
Then Leave Us Vacant Places in the Field. 

often been so weakened that it will not grow, especially if the 
ground is cold or the seed is planted too deep, or if it does grow 
it gives only weak stalks, "fooling around all summer, doing 
nothing." 

Let me beg of you not to fall back upon the statement which 
I hear so commonly — namely, "I never have any trouble with 
my seed corn." Quite as often I find that this man's seed is as 
poor as that of the man who was not so certain. 

—22— 



The fact is that bad seed costs the United States many mil- 
lions of bushels of corn annually. Few people realize how great 
is this loss each year. We cannot afford to be careless with bur 
seed corn — it means too much. Poor seed means a poor stand. 
Not only is a portion of our field idle, but we must cultivate the 
missing hills and the one-stalk hills and the poor, worthless stalks 
and receive nothing in return. Thousands of farmers in Iowa 




Fig. 13 — Receiving Samples of Seed Coin at Iowa State College Sent in by the Farmers 

for Testing. 
During the past three years more than six thousand samples of seed corn have been 
received. Each sample consisted of two kernels from each of one hundred ears. Two 
tests of each sample were made. The average of all the samples showed that out of every 
one hundred kernels sixty-four kernels gave strong, vigorous gemlination — that is, were 
fit to plant; seventeen kernels had weak stem or loot spiouts, or both, and were unfit to 
plant; nineteen kernels were worthless. 



put in more than one-third of the time spent in their corn fields 
on ground that produces nothing. 



THE GERMINATION TEST 



There is no one thing which will do so much to increase the 
yield of corn on every farm as the making of a germination test 
of six or eight kernels from each ear of corn to be used for seed, 



—23- 



and discarding those ears which show weak or sickly root or stem 
sprouts. The most common mistake is to conclude that the 
seed is all right and' does not need testing. Of two ears of corn 
planted in separate rows side by side, one may yield at the rate 
of more than eighty bushels and the other less than thirty 
bushels per acre. 

Of two stalks in the same hill, both having exactly the same 
opportunities so far as soil, cultivation, etc., are concerned, one 




Fie. 14- The Product of a Single Hill of Corn. 
The kernels which produced these three stalks came from three different ears. Prac- 
tically the same difference was to be seen when the kernels sprouted, and a germination 
test would have enabled the farmer to throw out the ears from which Nos. i and 2 came. 
Every weak ear planted means from eight hundred to one thousand stalks like No. 1. 
It cost just as much to raise ear No. 1 as ear No. 3, but with what different results. If 
we discard those ears which show low vitality, we greatly reduce the number of barren stalks 
and those producing only nubbins and small ears. Stalk No. 1, which produced the worth- 
less nubbin, had the same opportunity as stalk No. 3, which produced the large ear, except 
that they were from different ears of corn — that is, had different parents. 



may produce a good ear of corn weighing a pound or more, while 
the other stalk will produce an almost worthless ear or none at 
all. The ear from which one of these kernels came was strong 
and vigorous and the other weak. The same difference which 
shows at harvest time between these two stalks also showed 

—24— 



when the kernels first began to sprout and grow in the spring- 
So it is that by testing a few kernels from each ear in the spring 
we may detect the weak ones and discard them. 

One poor ear of corn dis- 
carded means not only the 
saving of waste land, but 
the saving of labor on 
nearly a thousand weak or 
worthless stalks. A few 
days spent during t h e 
month of March, when our 
time is otherwise of little 
value, in testing each ear 
of se*ed corn may be worth 
to us at harvest time more 
than a whole year's hard 
work. Let us remember, 
too, that we cannot injure 
our seed by testing it; we 
are running no risks; it 
costs but little time, and 
one person can put to test 
in one day enough to plant 
thirty acres. 

The method here de- 
scribed may not be the 
best one, yet it has proved 
most satisfactory to us in 
testing the seed each year 
for more than three thou- 
sand acres, and it is fol- 
lowed by thousands of 
farmers in Iowa. 

HOW TO MAKE THE GER- 
MINATION TEST 




Use a box four or five 
inches deep and about two 
by three feet in size. Fill 



Fig. 15 — Barren Stalks. 
Of the five stalks in these two hills, only 
one produced a good ear. Note how sickly 
and weak the non-productive stalks are, com- 
pared with the productive one. Barrenness 
is one of the greatest sources of loss in coin 
growing. To the farmer who grows the corn 
for the grain alone these ban en stalks are 
worse than a complete loss. They not only 
deprive the productive stalks of food, mois- 
ture and light, but they produce millions of 
grains of pollen, which are drifted over the 
field by the wind to fertilize the silks of the 
good stalks, and so reduce the vigor and fu- 
ture producing power of many of the good 
ears. Nubbins are simply a mild form of 
barrenness. 



-25— 



the box about half full of sawdust or moist earth, packed down 
firmly so that it will leave a smooth, even surface. In case 




Fig. 16 — Taking six kernels from each ear, and placing them on the floor at the end 
of the ear from which they were taken. Do not allow the kernels from one ear to become 
mixed with those from the ears lying next to it. 




Fig. 17 — Putting the kernels into the germination box. placing the six kernels from 
■ear No. i in square No. i, those from ear No. 2 in square No. 2, etc. One person can 
put over to test in a single day kernels from six hundred or seven hundred ears, or suffi- 
cient to plant thirty to forty acres. 



sawdust is used (and I prefer it to anything else) it should be 
placed in a sack and set in a tub of warm water for half an hour 



i-t; 



GERMINATION CLOTH 



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6 5" 










70 










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20 


*7 








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loo 


lol 








'US 










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120 


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135 










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Fig. 18 — A Piece of White Cloth Ruled Off into Squares Ready to Place on the Sawdust 

in the Germination Box. 

The cloth should be tacked to the coineis and edges of the box to hold it in place. 

This cloth is for a box twenty-eight by foity-eight inches in size, and will hold six kernels 

fiom each of two hundred different ears, or enough ordinarily to plant ten to twelve acres. 




Fig. 19 — This photograph shows the result of a germination test of six kernels from 
each of two hundred ears of seed corn. The six kernels fiom one hundred and forty of 
the two hundred ears gave a strong, vigorous germination, and weie used for seed. The 
six kernels from twenty-six of the ears gTew, but showed weakness, and were discarded as 
unsafe, while thirty-four of the ears were thrown out as bad, one or more kernels from each 
ear failing to grow. If these two hundred eais had been planted without testing kernels 
from each ear, there would have been sixteen thousand kernels that woud not have grown, 
or more than enough to plant one and one-half acres. 




Fig. 20 — The six kernels from ear No. i all 
have strong root and stem sprouts; those from 
ear No. 4 are only fair, while those from Nos. 
2 and 3 are weak. It is such ears as Nos. 2 
and 3 that we tail to discover when we depend 
on the eye and the jack-knife test. 



so that it will be thoroughly 
moistened before using. 
Take a piece of white cloth 
about the size of the box, 
rule i t off checker-board 
fashion one and one-half 
inches each way. Number 
the checks 1, 2, 3 and so on, 
and place it on the sawdust 
in the box and tack to the 
box in the corners and edges 
sufficiently to hold it to its 
place. Lay out the ears of 
corn to be tested side by 
side on the floor in rows, 
and drive two hails at the 
ends of the rows to hold 
the ears in place; remove 
one kernel from near the 
butt, middle and tip of the 




Fig. 21 — The weak and worthless kernels separated from the strong and placed on 
the right. Of the twenty-five kernels tested from this man's corn, sixteen were strong, 
four weak and five bad; or on the basis of one hundred, sixty- four per cent, were strong, 
sixteen per cent weak and twenty per cent worthless. This is almost exactly the av- 
erage of the six thousand samples sent in for testing during the past three years. 

—28— 



ear; turn the ear over, and remove three kernels from the oppo- 
site side in like manner, making six kernels in all, thus securing 
a representative sample from the entire ear. Place the six ker- 
nels at the end of the ear from which they were taken. Use 
care that the kernels do not become mixed with the kernels 
from the ear next to it. After the kernels are removed boards 
may be laid over the rows of corn to keep the ears in place until 




Fi.g. 22 — Germination box nine days after the kernels were put over to test. The stem 
sprouts are about two inches long on the most vigorous kernels. It is now easy to distin- 
guish the weak, sickly and slow sprouts from the strong and vigorous ones. Study the 
germination box carefully. Two hours spent discarding the weak ears as shown by the 
sprouts of the six kernels from each ear will save hundreds and hundreds of missing hills, 
one-stalk hills and weak stalks producing little or nothing next sr.mmer. Moie than this, 
it is also the best method of breeding or improving our corn, as we prevent the weak ears 
from reproducing themselves. 

The six kernels from ear 44 all failed to grow. One or more of the kernels from ears 
i, 2, 4, ro, 18, 20, 21, 36, 41, and 47 failed to giow. These eais should be discarded. Ears 
32, 46 and 29 are illustrations of weak ears. Do not fail to throw out all such as these. 
If the conditions are unfavorable they will fail to grow, or, growing, will produce only weak 
stalks, bearing nothing, or only small, inferior ears. Nos. 3, 34, 35 and 45 are especially 
vigorous, and will give a good stand of ear-producing stalks. 



the germination is known. Place the kernels from ear of corn 
No. 1 in square Xo. 1 of the germination box, from ear No. 2 in 
square No. 2, and so on with the kernels from all of the ears; 
then place over this a cloth considerably larger than the box, 
cover with, about two inches of moist sand, dirt or sawdust, 
and keep in a warm place where it will not freeze. There 



is no place in the house too good for this germinating box. 
In about eight or nine days, when the stem sprouts from 
the most vigorous kernels are about two or three inches long, 
the covering should be removed, care being taken not to mis- 
place the kernels. (A piece of cloth spread over the kernels be- 
fore the covering is put on will prevent the kernels from sticking 




Fig. 23 — Do not "guess' that the eight hundred kernels from an ear will all grow and 
produce strong plants. For less than ten cents per acre six kernels fiom each ear may 
be tested, and this allows two dollars per day for labor and twenty-five cents for the ger- 
mination box. The missing hills and weak stalks in our fields are largely due to seed 
from ears like Nos. 2, 6, 7, q and n. The weak stalks are shaded by the strong ones, and 
become relatively poorer as the summer advances. 



to the upper cover.) Now make a thorough study of the six 
kernels in each square in the germinating box, and carefully note 
those which either failed to grow or are weak, showing low vitality. 
For example, the six kernels in square No. 44 failed to grow; 
one or more of the kernels from ears Nos. 1, 2, 4, 10, 18, 20, 21, 

—30— 



33, 41 and 47 failed to grow. 
These ears should be dis- 
carded. Ears 32, 46, and 29 



are illustrations of weak ears. 



Do not fail to throw out all 
such as these. If the condi- 
tions are unfavorable they 
will fail to grow, or, growing, 
will produce only weak stalks, 
bearing nothing or only small, 
inferior ears. Nos. 3, 34, 35 
and 45 are especially vigorous, 
and will give a good stand of 
ear-producing stalks. 

But this does not, by any 
means, measure the damage 
done by these inferior stalks. 
They produce millions of 
grains of pollen to drift over 
the field to fertilize the silks 
of ears on vigorous stalks, 
thus continuing their worth- 
lessness from generation to 
generation. 

If six kernels from every 
ear intended for planting on 
every farm in the United 
States were tested in a ger- 
mination box in March and 
all the weak ones discarded, 
it would add hundreds of mil- 
lions of bushels to the corn 
crop of the United States 
annually. 

There is no one thing that 
costs so little and would add 
so much to the profits of every 
farmer. There is no good 
reason why every ear should 




Fig. 24 — Samples of Seed Corn Sent in by 
Two Different Farmers. 

In 1906 more than sixteen hundred sam- 
ples of coin were sent in for germination tests 
by the farmers of the state. Two tests of 
twenty-five kernels each were made of each 
man's corn; in many cases three tests were 
made. These two samples (632 and 73s) 
were put over to test side by side at the same 
time. Notice the great difference in the 
strength and vigor of both stem and root 
sprouts. Twenty-three of the twenty-five 
kernels from farmer No. 632 were very strong 
and only two were weak. Only fifteen of the 
twenty-five kernels from farmer No. 735 gave 
strong sprouts, three were weak and seven 
were worthless. On the basis of one hundred 
kernels the tests are: Sample 623, ninety- 
two per cent, strong, eight per cent weak, 
none worthess; sample 735, sixty per cent, 
strong, twelve per cent, weak and twenty- 
eight per cent worthless. . Sample 73s is char- 
acteristic of hundreds of others, many of them 
much poorer than this. Seed like this does 
more than anything else to reduce the aver- 
age yield to one small ear per hill. 




Fig. 25 — By testing six kernels from each 
ear we are able to detect the weak and worth- 
less cars. No. 1 shows weak germination. 
In No. 3 three of the kernels sent out weak 
stem sprouts, and none of them sent out main 
roots. No. 2 is a good example of vigorous 
germination. Ears Nos. 1 and 3 should be 
thrown out. An ordinary examination of 
ear No. 1 would not reveal the weakness 
shown so plainly in the germination box. 
We cannot afford to plant ears like No. 1 ; it 
means eight hundred or one thousand weak 
stalks at best. 



-31- 




Fig. 28— Three Stalks in One Hill fiom Three 
Different Ears. 
These kernels all had the same opportunity 
except that they weie from three different 
ears — had different parents. Anyone who 
will study a dozen corn fields in his vicinity 
will be convinced of the tremendous losses 
from missing stalks and from those that are 
weak or entiiely worthless. 




Fig. 27— These Two Hills are From Two Dif- 
ferent Ears of Corn. 
The hill at the left is from an ear whose 
kernels, when tested in the germination box, 
showed rather weak stem and root sprouts. 
Note the difference in the root systems of 
these two plants. 



not be tested. You cannot 
injure the corn by testing 
six kernels from each ear 
before shelling it. It costs 
nothing but a little time, of 
which there is plenty at the 
season when it should be 
done. One man can be put 
over to test enough for 
thirty acres in one day. If 
SI. 75 were charged per day, 
for all the work it would 
cost less than ten cents per 
acre; yet because it is "too 
much bother" we will guess 
that the eight hundred ker- 
nels on the ear are strong 
and vigorous. On hundreds 
of farms in Iowa last spring 
the boys and girls laid out 
the ears, removed the ker- 
nels, prepared the germina- 
tion box, put the kernels in 
the squares, and later helped 
in examining the sprouted 
corn and discarding the 
ears that showed the weak 
sprouts. 

Weak seed means missing 
hills, one-stalk hills and 
weak and barren stalks; it 
means twenty-five bushels 
per acre for the United 
States instead of fifty bush- 
els; it means wasted labor 
and wasted land. We have 
tested the seed for thou- 
sands of acres each year, 
and I realize how much it 



-32— 



means to every farmer. Try 
rush of spring work is upon 
you, or it will be neglected. 
It requires quite an effort to 
do a new thing. 

Mother earth may offer 
her choicest cradle, the sun 
may lavish his brightest rays, 
the gentle, showers may float 
down upon the balmiest winds 
of spring to nourish the infant 
plant — yet, if this child of 
the First Great Cause has 
been touched by the blighting 
breath of decay, or is the off- 
spring of perverted parent- 
age, all the kindly care of 
loving Nature, aided by the 
hand of man , only emphasizes 
more strongly that "What- 
soever a man sowcth, that 
shall he also reap.'" — From 
Farmer's Tribune. 

GRADING THE SEED AND 
TESTING THE PLANTER 

After the seed ears have 
been selected, from the gen- 
eral appearance of the ear 
and kernels and for their ger- 
minating qualities, they are 
ready to be graded for the 
planter. The ears should 
first be butted and tipped. 
This is done for two reasons. 
In the first place, butt and 
tip kernels produce less than 
middle kernels, and in the 



it; and do not put it off until the 




Fig. 28— Four Stalks in One Hill. 
Two are from ears which showed strong 
germination test; the two at the_ right are 
from ears which showed weakness in the ger- 
mination box. 






Fig 29 — This hill of three vigorous stalks 
is from three different ears, each of which 
showed a strong vitality when tested in the 
germination box. 



—33- 



second place they are so irregular in size and shape that the 
planter cannot drop them evenly. 

SHELL EACH EAR SEPARATELY 

Each ear should be shelled by itself, as this gives an op- 




Fig. 30 — One Hundred Individual Ears Each Planted in a Separate Row. 
These ears were all good seed ears, so far as could be determined by the eye aided by 
the jack-knife. Row "a" is particularly strong, while "b," the row next to it on the left, is 
weak; row "c," the next on the left, has a thin stand, nearly half of the kernels failing to 
come. Several of the ears in this field produced at the rate of over ninety bushels per 
acre, while others yielded less than thirty-five bushels. Had six or eight kernels from each 
ear been tested and the twenty poorest ears discarded before planting, the average yield 
would have been increased four bushels per acre, or four hundred bushels on a one-hun- 
dred-acre field of corn, or an increase of $140.00 at no additional expense except a few 
hours' labor in testing the seed. 




Fig. 31 — The plot on the right is from an ear which gave strong, vigorous sprouts 
in the germination box, while the plot on the left is from an ear which snowed poor germi- 
naton in the test. Anyone who will test six kernels from each of one hundred ears, and 
then plant the corn from each of these ears in separate blocks in the field and harvest 
each separately, will realize the importance of discarding the ears which showed weak- 
ness in the germination box. 

—34— 



portunity to discard ears with broken or injured kernels not dis- 
covered in previous examinations. It also gives an opportunity 
to grade the kernels into large, 
medium and small sizes. This 
will make it possible for the 
planter to drop the required 
number of kernels in each hill. 
In grading a large quantity 
of corn frequently five or six 
grades can profitably be made. 
Even in a few bushels of well- 
selected corn we are likely to 
find ears with broad, thin ker- 
nels, broad, thick kernels, long, 
narrow, shoe-peg kernels, and 
perhaps one or two other dis- 
tinct types. In shelling, one 
man can turn the sheller and 
put the ears in, a second man 
can catch each ear by itself in a 
large, shallow pan as it comes 
through, and after a little prac- 
tice can tell at a glance to which 
grade it belongs. Have a box 
for each grade. While these 
kernels differ widely in shape 
they are all good. They possess 
strong vitality, as shown by the 
germination test, and will in 
all probability produce vigorous 
ear-producing stalks. Still it 
would not be good practice to 
shell them together, as the 
planter could not successfully 
handle kernels of such widely 
different types. 

Fig. 32 — Three stalks from a, single hill. 
Stalk No. 3 is barren, but it produced millions 
of grains of pollen to fertilize the ears on 
neighboring stalks, and thus the tendency to 
barrenness is increased. 




35 



TESTING THE PLANTER 

When about twenty or thirty ears have been shelled and 
graded, the grades should be tested in the planter, with the dif- 
ferent plates, and in this way the grades may be adapted as far 
as possible to the plates on hand. 

HAND-PICKING THE SEED PROFITABLE 

The corn should now be spread out thin on the table, one 
or two quarts at a time, and hand picked, removing all the black, 
broken, rotten and inferior kernels of every kind. This work 




Fig 33 — Six Kernels from Each Ear Placed in the Germination Box Ready for 

the Covering. 
This man laid the ears out in rows on the floor in an upstairs room. A nail was 
driven into the floor lightly at the ends of the rows, and also after every tenth ear, to hold 
the ears in place. 



can generally be done to the best advantage in the evening, after 
supper, when the boys and girls are home from school to help. 
When the corn has been properly graded and hand picked, 
as described above, it should be placed in sacks (not more than 
one-third of a bushel in each) and hung up in a dry and well- 
ventilated place, such as the attic, until planting time. Do not 
hang over the laundry room nor over the stable. If the sacks 



—36— 



are suspended by short wires hung to other wires stretched through 
near the ceiling there will be little danger from mice. 

SAVE THE CHOICEST EARS FOR SEED 

When selecting and testing our seed we should save out one 
hundred or more of the choicest ears — those which not only 
please us in appearance of ear and kernel, but also give a strong 
test in the germination box. The corn from these ears should be 
placed in a separate sack, and in the spring it should be planted 
in one of our best and earliest planted fields. It is from this 




Fig. 34 — Examining the Germination Box to Discover the Worthless Ears. 
Hundreds of Iowa boys and girls tested the seed corn for the crop of this year. 
The young people in this case got too anxious, and will have to wait a few days until the 
germination is further advanced and the sprouts have grown two or three inches long. 

field that our seed should be selected next fall; for there is no 
law more certain than that "like tends to produce like." 

Whether our land be 'rich or poor, whether it be well or 
poorly prepared, whether the care of the crop be good or bad, 
whether or not the insects levy tribute on the crop, whether or 
not the season be favorable, yet our chances for a crop are 
better if we have good seed, seed that will not only grow, but that 
will produce strong, vigorous stalks with good ears. 

—37— 




Fig. 35 — Uniformity in Size and Shape of Kernels. 
Seed corn should be graded by shelling each ear separately and placing in the grade 
to which it belongs. Ear No. 2 has five hundred and forty broad, thick, shallow kernels. 
Ear. No. 3 has eight hundred and ninety long, narrow kernels of the shoe peg tvpe. The 
planter cannot be adjusted so as to drop a regular number of kernels per hill unless there 
is uniformity in both size and shape of kernels. Each ear of seed corn should be shelled 
separately, and the kernels put into either the large, medium or small grade to which they 
correspond most neaily in size and shape. When fifteen or twenty ears have been shelled 
and separated into three grades in this way, each grade should be put in the planter box 
and tested by making one hundred or more drops with the different planter plates to de- 
termine the accuiacy of drop. 



—38— 



CHAPTER III 



COMBATING CORN PESTS 

Rotation of crops is the most practical and powerful means 
of combating the insect enemies of corn. The losses each year 
are something enormous. Hundreds of samples of insects and 
injured specimens of corn are sent to the agricultural college 
annually with a request for a remedy. 

When the enemies have taken possession of our corn fields, 
there is no immediate remedy. The insects will take the corn 
in spite of us and we must pay the penalty. We are, in most 
cases, simply reaping the perfectly natural consequences of our 
own or of our neighbors' bad methods of the past. 

It is most fortunate, indeed, that that system of rotation 
of farming which will give the most profitable return from 
each acre and from each day's labor under normal conditions 
in the Central West, even if there were no insect enemies, is also 
the system which will most successfully combat these insect 
enemies. 

CONTINUOUS CROPPING VICIOUS 

Continuous cropping with the same crop is vicious. It 
means dependence upon the success of one crop and lack of dis- 
tribution of labor. It means a poor soil and a poor physical 
condition of that soil and consequently poor crops and favor- 
able conditions for the development of the insect and fungous 
enemies peculiar to the crop. 

Having made a careful study of the conditions of hundreds 
of corn fields throughout the corn belt both last year and this, 
it is very apparent: First, that little or no damage is being- 
done to the corn crop from insect enemies where the farmer 
practiced a good system of rotation of crops, and this is especially 
true if his neighbor also had an equally good system of rotation; 
second, that the reverse is almost invariably true; third, that 
corn continuously on the same ground is practically always 
seriously damaged by the corn root worm, and generally by the 

—39— 



corn root louse also; fourth, that 
meadow ground is left down for 



'Wfor 

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3 /» I ' 



Fig. 36 — Effect of the Corn Root .Worm. 

Nos. i, 2 and 3 were from field badly in- 
jured by root worm. The field yielded twenty 
bushels per acre. 

No. 4 is from an adjoining field not affected 
and yielded sixty bushels per acre. 

The root worm destroys the corn roots and 
the stalks are deprived of moisture and food 
and fall down badly during the wind storms, 
especially after heavy rains when the ground 
is soft. See Nos. 2 and 3. 

In the case of No. 3, the brace roots have 
taken root and are making up somewhat for 
the loss of its feeding roots. 

The remedy is rotation of crops. The corn 
root worm, so far as known, lives only on the 
roots of the corn plant "and possibly , sor- 
ghum." The eggs are always laid in the corn 
field by the beetles and the first crop of corn 
is not damaged by the worm. The second 
crop consecutively on the ground is apt to be 
considerably affected, especially in a region 
where corn i^ extensively grown. This is 
owing to the fact that the beetles fly from one 
corn field to another and deposit their eggs. 
If this latter field is not planted with corn 
the following season, there is no food for the 
worm and it dies. 

Many hundred fields of corn have been ex- 
amined during the past four years, and in 
almost every case where corn has been grown 
more than two years continuously, the damage 
has been very marked, amounting to thirty or 
more bushels per acre. 



where pasture and especially 
several years, it becomes the 
•breeding place for white grubs, 
bill bugs, stalk borers, cut 
worms, wire worms, army 
worms, root web worms, etc., 
which frequently do great 
damage to the following first 
and second corn crops; fifth, 
that there is almost never 
any damage where the rota- 
tion was corn one year, oats 
one year, and seeded to clover 
one year, followed again by 
corn. But where the second 
crop of corn is put on the 
same field continuously it is 
generally seriously damaged, 
especially where the nearby 
neighbors on the south and 
west have cropped their fields 
in corn continuously. The 
beetles naturally migrate with 
the wind to the fields on the 
north and east where they 
lay their eggs to hatch the 
following spring. 

MEADOWS ARE LEFT DOWN 
TOO LONG 

Where the meadow and 
pasture lands have been down 
for several years, and have 
become badly infected, the 
loss to the meadow itself is a 
serious matter, though not so 
noticeable as in the case of 
the first and second crops of 
corn which follow. 



-40— 



It is a common thing to find the grass in old meadows and 
pastures so weakened in large spots by the grub, wire worms, 
cut worms, and web worms that the wild barley or squirrel tail 
and other weeds come in and take partial or even entire pos- 
session of the ground. The presence of the squirrel tail is gen- 
erally the direct result of some or all of these insects. Frequently 
the squirrel tail will be found in irregular oatches along the sides 
of the meadows and pas- 
tures. This is due to the 
weakening of the grass by 
grubs, cut worms, etc. , which 
have worked into the fields 
from the hedgerows, which 
too often become the breed- 
ing ground of our worst 
enemies. 

PUT CLOVER IN THE 
ROTATION 

Every rotation in the corn 
belt should have clover in 
it. A rotation without 
clover is hardly worthy the 
name. The insects which 
work on the leguminous 
crops, such as clover, are not 
the ones which generally 
damage the grasses and corn 
crops. It is a rare thing to 
find any serious damage to 
the corn crop following the 
first or second year of clover. 
Where damage has occurred to corn following clover, it has gen- 
erally developed that the field has been down more than two 
years and that it was not in reality a clover field. It had been 
once, but the clover had given way to timothy and other grasses. 

FALL PLOWING BEST FOR OLD SOD 

Fall plowing is generally good practice. It distributes 
labor, insures against too late planting, makes it possible to 




Fig. 37 — Coin-Root Woim. 

No. i shows the worm much enlarged; No. 
2, the beetle which lays the eggs; No. 3, root 
broken off, showing worm at work. 

The root worm is a small white worm about 
one-half inch in length and about as large as 
a pin. When the worms are full grown they 
leave the roots and pupate or transform into 
a beetle about twice as large as the head of 
a pin. They then come out of the ground 
and feed mostly on the silks of the ears of 
corn. When they first appear they are a 
pale yellow, but turn to a grass-green color 
in a few hours. The eggs are laid in the 
ground by the beetles near the stalks of corn 
during August and the first part of Septem- 
ber, and hatch the following summer, duiing 
the latter part of June and the first of July, 
when the worm enters the corn roots and 
begins the work of destruction. 



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secure a better preparation of the ground, gives a better stand 
of corn, destroys some. of the insects and lessens the effect of 
those not destroyed through a more vigorous growth of corn. 
The white grub and wire worms are frequently worse on 
second sod. 

This is due to the fact that there is generally some grass 
left in the field the first year upon which the insect subsists, 

but by the second year it is 
entirely killed out and they 
have only corn to depend on. 
The white grub and the 
wire worm remain in the 
ground two or more years 
before changing into beetles, 
the former becoming the 
June bug or May beetle, the 
latter being known as the 
clicking or snapping beetle. 
The cut worm lives but one 
year and does its chief dam- 
age on the first year's sod 
corn and especially on spring 
plowing. 

CORN ROOT LOUSE OR APHIS 

Next to the corn root 
worm, the corn root louse 
probably causes more loss 
each year to the corn crop 
than any other insect pest 
The lice are smaller than 
the head' of a pin, blue 
green in color and appear in clusters on the roots of the corn 
They are always found associated with ants, which act as guar 
dians, protecting them and carrying them to the roots of the corn 
The lice pierce the root covering with the sharp beak and sucl< 
the juices which should go to build up the plant. When dis- 
turbed by the ants they exude a sweetish substance from the 
two honey tubes called "honey dew" upon which the ants feed. 




Fig. 38— Field Fifteen Years in Com 
Continuously. 

The field had been manured for this crop. 
The damage from the root worm was so great 
that hardly a stalk was left standing upright 
and the yield was less than fifteen bushels 
per acre of corn of a very inferior quality, 
many of the ears being light and chaffy, while 
others were rotted and entirely woithless from 
lying on the ground. 



-42— 



The root louse does its greatest damage on "old, badly 
worn" fields, especially if they have been in corn for several 
years. It is always worse on the low, damp ground, because 
of the fact that the ants transfer the lice to the roots of the 
smartweed and foxtail dur- 
ing the latter part of the sea- 
son when the corn roots have 
become hard and woody. 

It is difficult to keep the 
low, wet places free from 
weeds, and, hence, they be- 
come the breeding places of 
the root lice and ants. 

The greatest damage is 
done when the corn is small. 
The lice often attack the root 
as soon as the corn sprouts 
and kill it before it comes 
up. The plant generally 
lives, however, but makes a 
slow, feeble growth. 

The indications of lice are: 
First: the presence of ants in 
the field with ant holes in 
the hills of corn, often made 
before the corn comes up; 
second, a slow growth of the 
corn in spots through the 
field, when it is small, the 
corn having a sickly, yellow 
appearance. Where they are 
particularly bad, the corn will 
have a purple tinge, toward 
the tips of the leaves, the stems or stalks will have a reddish 
color; third, the corn is held back so that it matures late in the 
fall, often being caught by the frost; fourth, the yield is greatly 
reduced and the quality of the corn is poor. 

REMEDY 

The remedy is: First, rotation of crops; second, clean cul- 




Fig. 39— Hill of Corn Badly Injured by the 
Corn Root Worm. 
Nearly all the roots were destroyed, and 
the corn went down during the latter part 
of July. In attempting to recover, the stalk 
bends upward, giving the appearance shown 
in the picture. In case the coin goes down 
during the latter part of August, after it has 
made its full growth, it will lie flat on the 
ground and not recover. Note the very poor 
ears of corn on these stalks. The supply of 
moisture and plant food was cut off by the 
root worms, consequently the ears were 
poorly developed, and when husked the corn 
was chaffy and light. 



—43— 




Fig. 40 — Two corn roots taken from dif- 
ferent fields. The. root at the left, marked 
No. 2, is from a field badly damaged by the 
corn root worm. The field had been in corn 
continuously for three yeras. The root at 
the right, No. i, is from a field which was in 
oats the previous year, and consequently 
was not injured by the corn root worm. 
The roots on No. 2 were so badly destroyed 
that the stalk was easily lifted out of the 
ground with one hand, while it required con- 
siderable effort to pull No. 1, and the lower 
leaves were not fired as were those on stalk 
No. 2. 



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Fig. 41 — Corn-Root Louse, or Aphis. a, 
Louse; b, Ant which Acts as a Guardian; 

c. Winged Louse; d. Honey Tubes. 
The lice are considerably smaller than the 
head of a pin, bluish-green in color, appear- 
ing in clusters on the roots of the corn early 
in the spring. They are always found asso- 
ciated with ants which act as guardians, pro- 
tecting them and carrying them to the roots 
of the corn. When disturbed by the ants they 
exude from the honey tubes a sweetish sub- 
stance called honey dew, on which the ants feed. 
Remedy — Rotation of crops, harrowing be- 
fore the corn comes up and frequent culti- 
vation after it it up, to disturb the work of 
the ants and to warm the ground and hasten 
the growth of the corn. 



tivation in low places; third, 
harrowing or cultivating the 
ground before the corn comes 
up and when the corn is 
small. This hinders the ants 
in transferring the lice and 
their eggs to the roots of the 
corn and also stimulates the 
corn to more rapid growth. 
Fourth, manuring the ground. 
This gives a vigorous growth 
and enables the corn to 
better withstand the drain 
by the lice. 

THE CORN ROOT WORM. 

Its damage is estimated at 
200,000,000 bushels annually 
in the corn belt. 

Owing to the serious losses 
caused by this pest every- 
where in the corn belt, I wish 
to emphasize the remedies. 

Next to poor seed corn, the 
"corn root worm" is the 
greatest source of loss to the 
corn crop. The loss varies in 
different fields from a few 
bushels per acre to the de- 
struction of nearly the entire 
crop. The work of the corn 
root worm is not limited to 
any particular section, but is 
general throughout the corn 
belt. Of the six hundred 
fields examined this season 
and last in Iowa, Illinois, 
Kansas and Missouri, more 
than four hundred were more 



or less injured by the worm, 
has damaged the crops this 
year and last in Iowa alone 
to the extent of three bushels 
per acre, or 28,000,000 
' bushels, is placing the esti- 
mate at the lowest possible 
figure. If the actual damage 
could be determined, it 
would probably be double 
this amount. The root worm 
is so very small and does its 
work down under the ground 
in the roots of the corn, un- 
observed, and does its work 
so gradually that few people 
have an}' knowledge of the 
insect or the losses sustained 
annually. 

The eggs are laid mostly 
during August and Septem- 
ber and hatch the following 
spring in June and the first 
part of July. When full 
grown, the worm is about 
one-third of an inch in length 
and as large around as a pin. 
As soon as hatched, the 
worm enters the roots of the 
corn, and burrows back and 
forth, lengthwise, through 
the root, just under the out- 
side covering. Sometimes 
five or six worms will be 
found in one root and more 
than two hundred have been 
found in a single hill. The 
roots thus affected finally die 
and rot off, leaving short 



To say that the corn root worm 







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w 


i re Worm 




C^itr Forbes 



Fig. 42 — Wire Worm. 
The wire worm often does its greatest dam- 
age on second-sod com and on the knolls or 
slopes, and also in the low places wheie the 
ground has been tiled out and recently put 
under cultivation. The worm often eats 
through the kernels of com and the small 
plants, killing the plants before they come 
up. They also feed on the roots of corn and 
bore holes through the stalks below the 
ground, doing much damage thioughout the 
entiie season. 




Fig. 43— White Grub. 
The above cut illustrates the white grub 
which frequently destroys the corn on old 
sod ground. Two or three grubs will often 
be found in a single hill, living on the roots 
of the corn. 



-45— 



stubs. The stalk of corn is thus deprived of moisture and 
nourishment and after a rain when the ground is soft, and espe- 
cially with a heavy wind, the corn often goes down badly, par- 
ticularly in those places most affected. 

Generally the worm will have reached its full size the latter 
part of July and first of August, when it pupates and in a few 
days comes out as a small beetle, light or yellowish green color 
at first, but soon turns to a grass-green color. It distributes 
itself throughout the field and migrates to other fields of corn 




Fig. 44 — This field has been in pastuie for several years, and is badly infected with 
the white grub. The hogs have torn the sod up completely, rooting for grubs and other 
insects. Fields left down to pastuie or meadow for a number of years are almost certain 
to become badly infected with grubs, wire worms, cut worms, bill bugs, etc., and, conse- 
quently, when this ground is finally put in corn the first and second ctops are both seri- 
ously injured, and if continued in corn the third and fourth crops will be even more seriously 
damaged by the corn root worm. 



feeding on the silks, and the corn at the tips of the ears, especially 
where the husks have been broken open and the corn injured 
by the birds, ear worms, etc. 

So far as known in the North, the corn root worm works 
only on the roots of corn, and it is almost certain that the eggs 
are always laid in the corn field. 

Several hundred fields of corn were examined during this 
and last summer, but in no case did I find any damage from the 
root worm where corn followed some other crop, as pasture, 

—46— 



clover, oats, wheat, etc. The second crop of corn was damaged 
considerably, except in a few sections where corn is not the prin- 
cipal crop. But where 
corn has been grown more 
than two years on the same 
ground, consecutively, the 
damage was alwa} r s serious, 
and in many cases the yield 
was reduced to fifteen or 
twenty bushels to the acre, 
and this, too, in some in- 
stances where the ground 
had been manured in the 
winter before the plowing 
in the spring. 

INDICATIONS 

First: The corn will have 
an uneven appearance, 
certain patches being espe- 
cially poor and making a 
slow growth during the 
latter part of June and first 
part of July. The corn 
will have a yellow or sickly 
appearance and seem to 
stand "still." 

Second: The 
the worm itself, 
be determined 
up a hill of 
breaking open the roots. 

Third: The appearance 
of the roots, 
root has been 
the worm 
Often 




presence of 

which can 

by pulling 

corn and 



When one 
destroyed, 
attacks another, 
every principal root 



Fig. 45 — Corn Ear Worm, Sometimes Also 
Called the "Cotton Boll Worm," or To- 
bacco " Bud Worm," etc. 

Everyone is familiar with the work of the 
corn ear worm. This worm is found distrib- 
uted throughout the United States. The great- 
est damage has been done in the South, where 
it works on corn, cotton, tobacco, beans and 
other plants. The damage has been unusually 
great during the past year throughout the 
corn belt. The worm is especially fond of 
sweet corn, and injured the corn to such an 
extent that several canning factories were 
obliged to shut down. There are from three 
to five broods each year. They pass the win- 
ter in the pupa stage in the ground, and come 
out in the spring as moths to lay their eggs. 
The first brood eats the leaves of corn and 
other plants, the second brood eats the silk 
and tassels, and the third brood eats into the 
end of the ear of corn, and works back and 
forth. The actual damage done by the ear 
worm itself is not so great as the injury re- 
sulting from other insects, mold, rot, etc., 
which follow up the work of the worm. There 
is no known remedy which is successful. In 
the South it is claimed that fall plowing of the 
badly infested corn ground exposes the oupa to 
the freezing weather, killing many of them 



and the brace roots are completely destroyed, while in fields 
not so badly affected only a portion of the roots are destroyed; 




Fig. 46— Cut Worm. 
a, larva; b, moth. 
The greatest damage done by the cut worm 
is on the first-sod coin, especially where the 
field has been down to meadow or pasture 
for a number of yeais. Remedy is late fall 
plowing; shorter rotation, using clover and 
leaving down but one or two years. 




Fig. 47— Stalk Borer. 
a, adult; b, larva; c, larva in oat stalk; d. pupa. 
Sometimes called the "heart worm," be- 
cause it eats into the center of young corn 
plants, frequently destroying the plant. The 
damage is generally mostly confined to the 
two or three outside rows next to the hedge 
rows or meadows. It often injures oats, the 
heads turning yellow prematurelv, due to 
worms working up and down through the 
stalks, eating through the joints. 



other roots -will have a dark 
appearance and, when split 
open, show the burrows of 
the worm, although the 
worm may have left the 
root some time before. 

Fourth: The falling down 
of the corn during the 
latter part of July and Au- 
gust, especially in the spot 
most affected and after a 
rain followed by a wind; 
later the stalks will curve 
upward, giving a sled-run- 
ner or rainbow appearance 
to the stalks. 

Fifth: Ease with which 
the stalks may be lifted out 
of the ground, even with one 
hand. It will require con- 
siderable effort to pull up a 
healthy hill of corn with 
both hands. 

Sixth: The firing of the 
corn during the dry weather 
of July and August. 

Seventh: The large num- 
ber of stalks in the field with 
no ears and with very poor 
ones. 

Eighth: The presence in 
the corn field, especially in 
the silks at the tips of the 
ears, during August and 
September, of a large num- 
ber of small green beetles, 
about twice as large as the 
head of a pin. They are 
most numerous during Au- 



—48- 




gust, although they may be seen as late as October in the late 
planted field. 

Ninth: The corn is often retarded in growth and matures 
late and is often injured by frost as a consequence. Where the 
corn falls down badly, it 
rots before husking time. 

Tenth: The corn is light 
and chaffy and often moldy. 

REMEDY 



The remedy is rotation 
of crops, never growing 
more than two crops of 
corn continuous!}' on the 
same ground. 

If the corn went down 
considerably in August, es- 
pecially in spots, if the 
stalks can be pulled u p 
readily and the roots are 
badly rotted off, if there 
are many barren stalks or 
stalks with poor ears, and 
if the field has been in corn 
two years consecutively, it 
should go into some other 
crop for at least one year, 
and better, if it is seeded 
down and left one or two 
years in clover. 

The damage to the corn 
crop annually by the corn 
root worm in the corn belt 
the only remedy and now is 
the field next year. 



Fig. 48— Corn Bill Bug. 
Recently considerable damage has been 
done in some sections of the corn belt by the 
corn bill hup. Sometimes whole fields have 
been entirely destroyed. The most serious 
complaints have been fiom corn on the first 
or second sod. The damage is generally con- 
fined to the outside two or three rows in the 
field. Where a regular system of rotation is 
practiced and the field is not left down to 
grass more than two years at a time, there is 
seldom much damage except to the outside 
rows near the fence row or grass border. The 
bill bug does its work when the plants are 
small. No. i, the stalk on the left, shows the 
position of the bill bug when at work, jiie 
thrusts his long snout into the young plant 
and eats the tender corn. If the bill bug does 
not kill the plant (and generally it does 
not) there will appear rows of holes in the 
leaves weeks later as it develops (see stalk 
on right in cut). These holes are made by a 
single thrust of the snout into the small 
plant before the leaves were unfolded. Nos. 
3 and 4 show the beetle much enlarged. 



is enormous. Rotation of crops is 
the time to decide what to do with 



—49— 




Fig. 49 — Corn and Stock Judging Pavilion. Iowa State College. 
"The farmer who adopts better methods this year is not onlv a better farmer himself 
in the future, but his methods, directly or indirectly, soon become the methods of the 
community." 




Fig. 50 — Discarding Poor Ears. 
Before making the germination test, the seed ears should be laid out on some board 
or planks where they can be studied, and with an ear of desirable type in one hand, the corn 
should be gone over carefully and all ears which do not conform to this type in size, color, 
shape of both ear and kernels, should be thrown out. We are now ready for the germination 
test. 



50- 



CHAPTER fV 



HARVESTING AND STORING SEED CORN 

"If every ear of corn intended for planting next spring 
was harvested this fall not later than the middle of October 
and hung up in the attic, where it could dry out thoroughly 
before the bitter cold freezes of November and December, mil- 
lions of dollars would be added to the value of next year's corn 
crop." 

While there are many who exercise great care in the har- 
vesting and storing of their seed corn, yet we must all agree 
that the majority have become extremely careless, often de- 
pending upon the occasional good ears found throughout the 
entire husking season for seed, and, in thousands of cases, the 
seed is simply selected for planting in the spring from the crib. 
There must be a tremendous "jogging" or waking up to the 
importance of better care of the seed corn in the central west. 

We have "Arbor Day." Would it not also be well to have 
a "Seed Corn Harvest Day" in each state — a day when every- 
one should begin the harvesting and storing of his seed for the 
following spring? We laugh at our grandfathers for planting 
their potatoes and sowing their grain "in the moon," that is, 
in certain phases of the moon. The value of this practice lay, 
not in the fact, as supposed by many, that the moon exercised 
any influence on the crop, but in the having of a definite time 
and plan for the doing of various things on the farm. 

If the harvesting of seed corn, like the feeding of stock, 
came every day, it would be attended to on time, but it is noth- 
ing more nor less than human that the work which comes only 
occasionally or once a year, as in the case of the harvesting 
of the seed corn, should be put off or neglected altogether, un- 
less there is a definite time and plan for the work. 

And so I would suggest that some day be set aside on every 
farm every fall to be known as "Seed Corn Harvest Day" 
and that it be celebrated by harvesting and storing the 

—51— 



seed for next year's planting. In many cases, the work could 
not be completed in one day, but a good beginning could be 
made. However, it will require much less time than is gen- 
erally supposed. Forty acres is the average amount of corn 
planted on each of the 288,000 farms in Iowa each year, and 
this requires less than six bushels of seed, provided there is no 
waste or replanting. But, in order to have plenty to select 




Fig. 51 — Two hundred bushels of seed corn stored first two weeks in October; forty 
ears (two strings of twenty ears each) are hung eight inches apart each way. 

The above cut represents one of the best and safest methods of storing seed corn. 
Fifteen or twenty ears are tied together with a piece of binding twine and hung from hor- 
izontal wires suspended fiom the rafters of the ceiling by other wires. First: This gives 
thorough circulation of air, and thus prevents molding or sprouting. Second: It allows 
the corn to dry out rapidly and completely, and thus avoids danger from freezing, during 
the bitter cold weather of November and December. Third: There will be little danger 
from mice and rats. 

from and to provide against possible accident, not less than 
fifteen or twenty bushels to each forty acres should be saved. 
One of the very best methods for gathering the seed is to go 
into the best and earliest planted fields with bags or baskets 
and select well matured ears from the most vigorous stalks. 
The ears should then be stripped of their husks and tied to- 
gether, ten or twelve ears on a string, and hung in the attic 
or in a spare room upstairs or in a dry cellar at once on some 



wires where there is a good circulation of air and where it will 
be protected from the bitter cold, freezing weather of November 
and December. 

The twenty-one strings of seed corn shown in the cut re- 
quire a space less than six feet long by twenty inches wide, 
and yet this amount of seed will plant more than fifteen acres. 

The advantages of this method of storing are: First: 
That it gives better protection from mice than where it is spread 
on the floor or corded in piles or put in racks. Second: It gives 
better circulation of air, which allows the corn to dry out quickly 



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f!i 



Fig. 52 — The twenty-one strings of corn aie hung to wiies in the attic in a space 
less than six feet long by twenty inches wide, yet there is sufficient to plant fifteen acres. 

and thoroughly, thus protecting it from molding and sprout- 
ing and from being frozen while it is yet sappy. The greatest 
enemy to good seed corn is hard freezing while it still contains 
moisture, consequently there is more dnager from late harvesting 
than from too early harvesting. However, it is not a good plan 
to harvest the seed in September while the corn is immature, 
as it is more difficult to preserve, will be chaffy and give weaker 
plants than corn which has been allowed to fully mature on the 
stalk. 

PLACE FOR STORING SEED 

Taking all things into consideration, probably there is no 
better place to store seed corn than in the attic. In the nearly 

—53— 



Yield o} individual tars. 
Ohio Experiment Station 



Thre. 




hic,>wst 






CI rf ra t\t 


110 bu. 


Thru 






Uwfit 







1 1 * Au.. 
JU fcu. 

55 U 

CStXA. 

Ilk*. 



a 



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it but 



5,000 samples of seed corn sent to the college for testing the 
past two years, those preserved in the attic generally gave the 
strongest germination and also the highest per cent. The ex- 
periments conducted at the college, where seed was stored in 
over forty different ways, also show that the attic is one of the 
very best places for seed corn. The second best place seems 
to be in the cellar and especially the furnace room. There are 
several objections to the average cellar. It is apt to be too 

damp and the corn must be 
well dried before putting in 
the cellar and it must not be 
corded up or put in piles, but 
hung up. There is more danger 
from mice and generally there 
it less room, but it has one 
great advantage, in that it 
protects the corn from hard 
freezes. 

Seed that is hung in the 
barn or under an open shed 
generally comes through the 
winter in fair condition, pro- 
vided it was harvested and 
hung up during the early part 
of October, yet the experience 
of the last two years shows 
that much of the seed stored 
in this way was either killed 
or greatly weakened. During 
the warm damp spells, the 
seed gathered moisture and 
was injured by the cold 
freezes that followed. It 
should be remembered that 
freezing cannot do the corn any possible good and it may greatly 
injure it. 

It is quite generally supposed that if the seed sprouts in 
the spring it is all right. As a matter of fact, much of it has 
often been so weakened that it will not grow, especially if the 



Fig. 53— Prof. C. G. Williams, of the 
Ohio Experiment Station, selected twenty- 
four of his best ears of seed corn. These 
were shelled sepaiately and planted side 
by side, each ear in a row by itself. The 
corn was planted five kernels per hill, 
thinned to three stalks after coming up. 

Notice — First: That one ear yielded at 
the rate of one hundred and fourteen 
bushels per acre, while another yielded 
fifty-five bushels. 

Second : That the one hundred and four- 
teen bushel ear produced no worthless 
stalks, while the fifty-five bushel ear pro- 
duced fifty-eight barren or worthless stalks, 
yet each of these rows contained exactly 
the same number of stalks. 

Third: That the second best ear pro- 
duced at the rate of one hundred and twelve 
bushels per acre, with only fifteen barren 
stalks, while next to the poorest ear yielded 
but sixty-five bushels per acre and had fifty- 
two barren stalks. 

Fourth: That the three highest yielding 
ears averaged one hundred and ten bushels 
per acre, while the three poorest of the 
twenty-four ears produced only sixty-six 
bushels, or a difference of forty-four bushels 
per acre. 



ground is cold or the seed is planted too deep, or if it does grow, 
gives only weak stalks. 

We cannot afford to be careless with our seed corn. It 
means too much. Poor seed means a poor stand; not only is 
a portion of our field idle, but we must cultivate the missing 
hills and the one-stalk hills and the poor and worthless stalks. 
Thousands of people this year worked more than a third of 
every day on ground that produced nothing, simply because 
they planted weak seed. Do not depend for seed upon the 
occasional good ear found throughout the husking season. The 




Fig. 54 — Rows of Corn Planted from Different Ears. 
Anyone who will select one hundred of what appears to be his best seed ears and plant 
them in separate rows, side by side, watch them grow through the summer, harvest each 
row separately in the fall and weigh the com, will certainly be convinced of the tremendous 
importance of knowing, not guessing, that the eight hundred kernels from an ear are strong 
and vigorous. 

corn will be injured by freezing before it is husked, or before 
it has had time to become dry after husking. 

One of the best plans I know of is to begin in March, when 
testing the corn for planting, by selecting eighty or one hundred 
or more of the very best ears from the seed corn. These ears 
should not only be splendid ears in appearance, but the six 
kernels must show uniformly strong, vigorous sprouts in the 
germination box test. 

SELECT BREEDING AT TESTING TIME 

The very best time to select these choicest ears is when 
the germination box is being taken off. We can see the sprouts 



of the six kernels from all the ears side by side. These ears 
should then be butted and tipped and each ear shelled by itself 
and carefullly studied. The kernels should have a bright, 
cheerful appearance, be full and plump at the tips and have a 

large, clear germ, otherwise 
they should be discarded. The 
corn from these remaining 
ears should be mixed together 
and planted on one side of 
the regular field. I would 
emphasize the importance of 
planting this choice seed at 
the time of the first planting; 
that is, I should begin my 
first field with this seed, put- 
ting it on the south or west 
side of the field, unless there 
is danger that it will become 
mixed from some neighbor's 
corn near by, of a different 
variety. In this case, I 
would put it on the other 
side of the field. The im- 
portant thing is to get it in 
early, and, if possible, on fall- 
plowed ground. This will 
allow the corn to become 
thoroughly matured early 
nex't fall. The great import- 
ance of this cannot be over- 
estimated. It is the late ma- 
turing corn that is caught by 
the freezes, as there is not 
sufficient time for it to dry out. 




Fig. 55 — No. i is an illustration of a good 
stalk, well balanced, the ear about four feet 
from the ground, well set and droops suf- 
ficiently, when ripe, to shed the rain. No. 2 
shows a rather weak stalk with long joints, and 
the ear set too high and much too near the top. 



SELECT NEXT YEARS SEED FROM THIS BEST CORN 

The seed corn for the next crop should be selected from 
this patch, which was planted from the very best ears. It is 



-56- 



a very common practice to select the occasional good ears 
found throughout the entire husking season. There are three 
important reasons why this should not be done. In the first 
place, we are more likely to neglect the work until too late, 
when we find ourselves without good seed for the next year. 
Again, many of the kernels 
on these good ears, selected 
throughout the entire field or 
season, have necessarily been 
fertilized by pollen from the 
scrub stalks and those which 
are perhaps barren. In other 
words, we have simply select- 
ed a good female, but know 
nothing of the character of 
the male stalks from which 
the pollen came that fertilized 
the kernels. On the other 
hand, if our seed is all selected 
from the seed patch planted 
only from the very best ears, 
we are much more certain of 
good parents on both sides. 

One of the most serious 
results from depending on the 
occasional good ear found 
throughout the entire husking 
season is that many of the 
fields are late and the corn 
immature and the husks will 
prevent the corn from drying 
out properly and, as a conse- 
quence, it is frozen before it 
is husked, or at least before 
it has had time to dry out 
after husking. Again, we often begin harvesting our poorest fields 
first and delay saving seed until we come to our "best fields." 
There are several cautions which should be observed in 
the storing of seed corn. 




Fig. 56 — Height of Ears. 
As extremely high ears tend to be later 
than those lower down, they should not be 
used for seed purposes. Ears, on the other 
hand, that are too low, tend to • extreme 
earliness, and as these two classes do not 
mature well together, they should be avoided, 
and none but ears borne at a uniform height 
should be used for seed. 



First: Do not put immature or freshly-gathered seed corn 
in a warm room on the floor or in' piles; it will either sprout or 
mold, or both. The corn should be hung up and the windows 
left open for a good circulation of air. 

Second: Seed corn should not be left in barrels and boxes, 
nor on the floor or porch in piles. It should be properly taken 
care of at once, as soon as harvested — that night. 

Third: Do not store seed corn over the laundry room, 
nor over the stable, as it will gather moisture and be injured 
by freezing during the winter. 

Fourth: Do not depend upon the crib for seed corn. 
The most critical time for seed corn' is during the first 
month after it is harvested while it is green and sappy. There 

is danger that it will mold or 
grow if the room is warm and 
the circulation of air is not 
good. On the other hand, 
there is danger of its freezing 
unless protected. Corn dries 
out much more slowly than 
is generally supposed. The 
experiments at the college 
show that corn which shrunk 
twenty-six per cent, during 
the year in a small crib had 
lost on January 1st but eight 
per cent. This corn was put 
into the crib on October 27th. 
Let me again emphasize the importance of selecting, say, 
one hundred of the choicest ears, planting them on one side of 
our earliest planted field. Out of this seed patch the seed for 
next year's crop should be selected not later than October 10th 
to loth and hung up in the attic at once, where it can dry out 
thoroughly before the severe freezes. 

Let us have a time and a definite plan for harvesting and 
storing our seed corn. One day devoted to the seed corn at 
the proper time may be worth more to us than an entire month 
of hard work next summer put on to a poor stand of corn. 




Fir,. 57 — Bushel crate of corn ready for 
shipment. Size, n inches wide by 12 inches 
deep by 32 inches long, inside measurement. 
The slats are 3 inches wide, the side slats 
are of one-half-inch and the end slats of 
five-eights-inch material. 



-58— 



CHAPTER V 

WHAT IS A GOOD EAR OF CORN, OR HOW TO 
SELECT AND JUDGE CORN 

Perhaps the four most fundamental things to be considered 
in the judging of corn or in the selecting of seed are: 

First: Will it grow? That is, will it all grow and grow 
uniformly, giving an even stand? Has it vitality — strong- 
germinating power? 

Second: Will it mature; that is, will it ripen in the vicinity, 
not only this year, but every year for ten years? If not, it is 
too risky. 

Third: Has it constitution; that is, producing power? 
Has it those characteristics which make us know that it will 
do something in spite of cold ground and unfavorable conditions? 

Fourth: Has it breeding characteristics? Will it repro- 
duce itself? Has it forty, fifty or sixty years of intelligent 
selection and improvement back of it to a purpose? Has it 
been. mixed with brains? 

Let us take up some of the points to be considered under 
each of the above head. 

first: has it life? has it strong germination power? 

will it grow? 

In the final selection of seed corn to plant no one has any 
moral right to guess that the kernels on an ear of corn will grow 
when he can find out definitely what they will do by testing a 
few kernels from each ear as described in Chapter II. 

In the preliminary work of sorting out and selecting the 
ears of seed corn we are obliged to depend on the appearance 
of the ears and kernels, and this is especially true with the 
judge at a contest, where he must pass upon the samples after 
only a brief examination. 

In studying the germinating power of the corn, it is essential 
that several kernels be removed from every ear, representing 
different parts of the ear, and laid at the end of the ear where 

—59— 



they may be studied with the ear. Some indications of the 
lack of strong germinating power are: black, salvy or cheesy 
appearance of the germ when the kernels are cut or broken 
open; shrunken, blistered or wrinkled germs; starchy, blistered 
backs of the kernels; kernels with shrunken pointed tips, leav- 
ing space at the cob between the kernels; adhering to the kernels 
of the chaffy part of the cob when the corn is shelled; starchy, 
dull, dead appearance of the ear; loose, chaffy condition of corn 
on the cob, and especially a moldy appearance of the cob or of 
the corn. 




Fig. 58 — The samples of ten eais each enteied in a corn contest laid out ready for 
judging. The object should be to give fiist place to the ten eais which will prove most 
profitable per acre to grow, year after year, under the conditions as they exist in the vicinity 
where the contest is held. 



second: will it mature; that is, ripen in the vicinity 
every year? is it safe? 

Maturity is one of the most important things to be con- 
sidered, especially in the northern part of the corn belt, where 
there has been a tendency to grow late maturing varieties, and 
to select too large ears, or ears with too deep grains, which 
tend toward lateness. As a consequence, the corn is improperly 
matured, chaffy, and grades low on the market. A load of 
immature, chaffy corn, loose on the cob, light and starchy, is 
often worth scarcely half as much in the feed lot as a load of 
well-matured corn. To this loss we must add the difficulty of 
keeping immature corn. It generally molds more or less, and 

—60— 



almost always, during March and April, when the corn thaws 
out, the heart or chit of the kernels, which is the most valuable 
portion of the grain, turns black, becomes strong and unpalatable 
and the feeding value is greatly reduced. 

Of the thousands of samples of corn sent to the college 
each spring to be tested, it is almost invariably the late matur- 
ing varieties ' that 
have lowest vital- 
ity. This is due 
largely to the fact 
that the corn ma- 
tured so late that 
it did not dry out 
thoroughly before 
the severe freezes 
of November and 
December. What 
we "n e e d is not 
large, late matur- 
ing kinds of corn, 
but a better stand, 
with every stalk 
bearing *a medium- 
sized, well-ma- 
tured, solid ear of 
corn. 

One small ear of 
corn weiging ten 
and o n e - h a 1 f 
ounces to each of 
the 3,556 hills per 
acre, would make 
thirty-three bush- 
els per acre, or 

niore than the average yield of the corn belt for the past ten 
years. What we need now is another ear of corn to each hill. 

The indications of immaturity are chaffiness, looseness on 
the cob, sappiness, dull and starchy appearance of kernels, the 
chaffy portion of the cob adhering to the kernels, when removed 




Fig. 59 — Space between the kernels next to the cob 
objectionable. Ears i and 2 are the same length and 
circumference. Ear No. 1 weighed 13.45 ounces. Ear 
No. 2 weighed 10.12 ounces. Ear No. 1 shelled out 
thirty-three per cent, more corn than ear No. 2. No. 3 
is edge view of the kernels taken from ear No. 1. No. 4 
is edge view of kernels from ear No. 2. Nos. 5 and 6 is 
a flat view of the kernels. Ear No. 2 should be discarded 
for seed purposes. First, because it will shell out a smaller 
proportion of corn to cob; second, because it is> poorer 
in feeding value; third, because the kernels give weaker 
stalks. 



—61— 



from the cob, or the tip cap of the kernels breaking off leaving 
the germ exposed, shriveled or wrinkled appearance of the tips 
of the kernels, the doughy appearance or cheese color of the 

germ or heart of t h e 

kernel. 

third: has it constitu- 
tion OR PRODUCING 
POWER? 

It has already been pointed 
out that there is a great dif- 
ference in the producing pow- 
er of different ears of corn. 
There are certain things which 
indicate vigor and strength, 
or the lack of it. In figure 60 
it is apparent that the right 
hand stalk has the greater 
strength. The left hand stalk 
is spindling, the shank of the 
ear is long and so weak that 
the ear has broken down, the 
joints are long and the leaves 
narrow and pale in color and 
the tassel itself shows weak- 
ness. 

There is not space here to 
bring out the many differ- 
ences shown by the stalks in 
this figure, but anyone who 
has really given much atten- 
tion to corn will appreciate 
fully the importance of plant- 
ing the corn from the ninety or one hundred best ears on one 
side of the field, so that he may go through this part of his field 
in October, with bags, and select the best ears from those stalks 
which indicate constitution and vigor. 

In connection with the ears of corn and the kernels, there 
are many things which indicate strength or the lack of it. Ears 




Fig. 60 — Shows a strong, vigorous stalk 
and a weak one. At the time when those 
stalks were taken from the field (October 10), 
the ear on No. i showed a droop at the tip 
a little more to prevent the water from run- 
ning under the husks and molding the butt 
of the ear. 



62 



with compressed butts, very small shank attachments, or ears 
with small pointed tips partially covered with small, yellow, 
flinty kernels, ears with a dull and starchy appearance, or ears 
with kernels having small germs or weak pointed tips are gen- 
erally weak; i. e., produce weak plants, which will not endure 
unfavorable conditions, such as cold, wet ground in spring, 
or dry weather later in the season, or resist the attack of insects,etc. 

A large germ or 
heart in the kernels 
of the ear indicates 
not only strength and 
vigor, but also high 
feeding value. 

One of the best in- 
dications of strength 
is the way the six 
kernels from each ear 
sprout in the germi- 
nation box. 

fourth: has it 
breeding? is it true 
to type? will it re- 
produce its e l f? 
has it years of se- 
lection to a pur- 
POSE: Fig. 61 — Furrows between rows. Ears like No. i 
with no furrows between the rows are apt to be dull 
■p , i i l +u .+ anc ' lacking in weight, with spaces between kernels at 
r/rOOably tUe next cob. The furrows are too prominent on ears 3 and 4. 

most important thing 

to take into consideration is the trueness to type, or breed char- 
acteristics. The ears to be selected for seed, or for the exhibit, 
should be uniform in size, shape and color, and should be free 
from mixture. The kernels of the different ears should also be 
uniform as to color, size and shape, maturity and other char- 
acteristics. The real significance of having definite and uniform 
characteristics is not generally appreciated. Corn practices 
"open" or "free" pollination, and, as a consequence, much of 
the corn has become badly mixed. The following are some of 
the bad results of mixture: 




-03— 



First: Instead of improving it tends to deteriorate or to 
revert, and generally- becomes inferior to either of the kinds 
which were mixed. 

Second: There is generally a large percentage of barren 
stalks due to the difference in time of silking of the two or more 
varieties which formed the mixture, and to the increased tendency 
to vary; hence, we find in a mixed corn many stalks silking 
before the pollen is shed, and others after it has gone. 

Third: There is a wide range in time of maturity, and 
consequently much soft, chaffy corn; frequently a portion of 

the kernels of the 
same ear will be much 
more immature than 
others. These later 
maturing kernels con- 
tain more moisture 
than the riper ones 
and are quite likely to 
be injured by freez- 
ing and refuse to grow 
when planted or will 
give weak plants. 

Fourth: The varie- 
t i e s which become 
mixed generally have 
different types or 
characteristics of ker- 
nels. There will be a 
tendency for some of 
the ears to have broad, shallow or thick kernels, while others 
will have narrow, deep or thin kernels. This lack of uniformity 
in size and shape of kernels makes it impossible to secure an 
even dropping of the seed by the planter, which means a poor 
stand and a reduced yield. In the tests which have been made 
with a large number of samples from farmers, those most badly 
mixed generally gave the lowest yield. 




Fig. 62 — These ears vary greatly in size and shape of 
kernel. The planter will not drop the kernels from these 
ears evenly. They will also give too much variation in 
time of maturity, character of growth, etc. 



—64- 




—65— 



SCORE CARD 



The score card is simply a subdivision of these four funda- 
mental propositions. Its purpose is: 

First: To aid the judge to keep in mind the principal 
things to be considered. 




Fio. 64 — In selecting seed ears, Nos. 2 and 3 should be discarded, as no planter will 
drop a uniform number of these kernels per hill. Ears Nos. 1 and 4 have kernels of uniform 
size and shape, and when the butts and tips were shelled off the planter dropped three 
kernels to a hill ninety-three to ninety-five times out of every hundred tests, while ear No. 
2 tested seventy- four threes, nineteen twos, six ones and one five. Five stalks in one 
hill and one in the next does not make an average of three stalks per hill in yield. 



Second: To aid in establishing a uniform basis for study 
and comparison. 

Third: To prevent the laying of undue stress on some 



—66— 



one or two points and omitting others entirely, which are of 
more importance. » 

Fourth: Finally, the great purpose of the score card is 
better corn; i. e., greater profits from each acre and for each 
day's labor put on that acre. It should not be followed blindly 
nor even mechanically, but intelligently. After all, the judge, 
or the man selecting his seed, is the principal factor, and upon 



POINTS 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


s 





10 


1. Trueness to 
Type 1(, 




1 


























2. Shape of 

Ear 1C 
























3. Purity of Color 
in Grain and 
Cob 5 




















I 


4. Vitality, Ma- 
turity, Germi- 
nation Power 20 














- 










T 


5. Tips of Ears 5 


6. Butts of Ears 5 
























7. Uniformity of 
Kernels 5 
















8. Shape of 

Kernels 5 
























9. Length of 

Ear 5 


























10. Circumfer- 
ence of Ear 5 




















1 

1 






11 . Furrows Be- 
tween Rows 5 
















i 






12. Space Be- 
tween Ker- 
nels at Cob 10 






























13. Proportion 
of Corn to 
Cob 10 




























.1 


Total 100 


' 


















. 1 



-67 



his knowledge and experience the final decision as to whether 
this sample or that, whether this ear or that, shall receive the 
award or be selected for planting must depend. 

The score card on the preceding page, with some modifi- 
cations, is now in gen- 
eral use throughout 
the United States: 

EXPLANATION OF THE 

POINTS IN THE 

SCORE CARD 



1. Triteness to 
Type or Breed 
Characteristics. 10 
Points. — The ten 
ears in the sample 
should possess similar 
or like characteristics, 
and should be true to 
the variety which 
they represent. Sev- 
eral representative 
kernels should be 
taken from each ear 
and placed germ side 
up in front of the ear 
and studied in con- 
nection with the ear. 
Too little attention is 
generally paid to the 




Fig. 65 — Scrub Ears of Corn . 
Ears i and 4 are from good, healthy, vigorous stalks. 
No. 4 was late, poorly pollinated, and as a consequence 
the corn is of little value. Ear No. 2 shows the effect 
of mixture with late corn. Some of the kernels were 
much later in maturing than others, and the crowns 
have been broken open and in some cases the kernels 
rotted; the stalks which produced these ears have 
distributed millions of grains of pollen throughout the 
field to fertilize the silks of many of the best ears which 
will be collected for seed. 



kernels in selecting seed and in judging samples. 

2. Shape of Ear. 10 Points. In shape the ears should 
conform to variety type. Each ear should be full and strong 
in the central portion and not taper too rapidly towards the tip. 
This indicates strong constitution and good yield. 

3. Purity of Color in Both Grain and Cob. 5 Points. 
— In color the kernels should be true to variety and free from 
mixture. Difference in shade of color, as light or dark red, white 
or cream color, must be scored according to variety characteristics. 



—68— 



Cob. — The cobs should show uniformity of color, shape and 
quality, indicating purity and good breeding. 

4. Vitality, Maturity, Germination Power. 20 Points. 
— Corn should be in good market condition; should show 
good constitution and be capable of producing plants of strong, 




Fig. 66 — Mixing of Varieties Bad. 

The crossing or mixing of different varieties or types of com generally reduces botr 
yield and quality. Where the types crossed vary most, the damage is generally greatest 

i. The fixed characteristics of each variety are broken up; that is, become unstable 
and the tendency is to revert back to the older forms — to degenerate. 

2. There will be a lack of uniformity in size and shape of kernels, and it will be im 
possible to secure regularity of drop by the planter. 

3. The kernels on the ear will ripen unevenly: some of the kernels, being late, im- 
mature and sappy, are injured by the freezes in November and December, and, consequently, 
a poor stand is secured the following spring. 

4. It produces unevenness in time of silking, the very earliest and latest ears fre- 
quently being poorly fertilized and developed. (See ears 2 and 3). 

vigorous growth and yield. All indications of freezing or other 
injury from exposure, and all evidence of immaturity, such as 
kernels with adhering chaff, black tips caused by the tip cap 
adhering to the cob, shrunken, dark or blistered germs, and 

—69— 



shrunken, blistered or starchy backs must be marked according 
to the judgment of the scorer. When selecting for the best 
kernel aside from type, the broad wedge-shape is most 
desirable. 

5. Tips. 5 Points. — Tips should be regular, uniform, 
and properly proportioned to the body of the ear. The rows 
should be well carried out and the kernels conform closely to 
those in the main body of the ear in shape and size. The pro- 
portion of tip covered or filled must be considered. Long 

pointed tips, as well 
as blunt, flattened or 
double tips, are ob- 
jectionable. 

6. Butts. 5 
Points. — The rows of 
kernels should extend 
in regular order over 
the butt, leaving a 
deep depression when 
the shank is removed. 
Opened and swelled 
butts, depressed and 
flat butts with flat- 
tened glazed kernels, 
are objectionable and 
must be cut accord- 
ing to the judgment 
of the scorer. 

7. Uniformity of 
Kernels. 5 Points. 
— -The kernels should 

be uniform in size and shape, making it possible to so grade the corn 
as to secure even dropping by the planter. This is essential in 
securing a good stand. Not only should the kernels be uniform 
on the individual ear, but they should be uniform throughout 
the sample. 

8. Shape of Kernels. 5 Points, — Kernels should be 
so shaped that their edges touch from tip to crown. The tip 
portion of the kernel is rich in protein and oil, and hence of high 




Fig. 67 — The above ears are from different vari- 
eties of corn and illustrate very good forms or types. 
The ears are full in the middle, showing good consti- 
tution and breeding. The kernels on each ear are 
uniform in size and shape, and will be dropped uniform- 
ly from the planter, giving an even stand. 



feeding value. Kernels with 
large germs insure strong, vig- 
orous growth, as well as rich- 
ness in quality of kernel. 

9. Length of Ear. 5 
Points. — The length of the 
ear varies according to va- 
riety, type and the charac- 
teristics sought for by the in- 
dividual breeder. Uniformity 
of length is to be sought for 
in a sample, and a sample 
having even length of ears 
should score higher than one 
that varies, even if it is with- 
in the limits. Usual length 
of ears for the northern sec- 
tions of the corn belt, eight 
and one-half to nine and one- 
half inches; central section, 
eight and three-fourths to nine 
and three-fourths inches ; 
southern sections, nine to 
ten inches. Very long ears 
are objectionable, as they 
usually have poor butts and 
tips, broad, shallow kernels, 
and hence a low percentage 
of corn to cob. 

10. Circumference of 
Ear. 5 Points. — The cir- 
cumference of the ear, aside 
from conformity to its variety 
or type, should be in sym- 
metry with its length. An 
ear too great in circumfer- 
ence in proportion to its 
length is generally slow in 
maturing, and too frequently 




Fig. 68 — Composition of the Crown» 
Middle and Tip Portion of the Kernel. 
Per Cent. Per Cent. 
Parts. Oil. Protein. Total. 

Crown (c) i .o 13.5 14. 51 

Middle (m) 3.33 9.98 13-31 

Tip (t) 12.02 12.26 24.28 

Ears whose kernels have strong, full tips 
are richer and give stronger plants than those 
which are thin and pointed at the tips. 

!t 

I 

■ I 
1 
I 




\l 



A 



Fig. 69 — Cross Sections of a Kernel of 
Corn. 

The following table shows the composition 
of the parts of a kernel of corn: 

Per Per Per 
Cent. Cent. Cent. Total. 
Oil. Protein. Ash. 
Germ or heart (g) .36.6 19. 
White floury por- 
tion (f,p). 
Hard, horny por- 
tion (h,p). 



10. o 66.0 



7-9 

10.8 



• S 



.65 



9.2 



12.55 



It will be noticed from the above table. 

First , that the germ is many times richer 
than the other portions of the kernels in the 
three most valuable feeding constituents; 
viz., oil, protein and ash. Second, that 
the white, floury-looking portion is the poor- 
est. Select ears for seed that have kernels 
with large, deep germs. 



•1— 



37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24-43 22 21 



20 16 



*T 4t£ 



<&> ®»<j» ®&&. : » -m cm m &l 



Fig. 70 — The upper row shows the depth of germ when the kernels are split in two 
lengthwise through the middle of the geim. Nos. 21, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33 and 35 show very 
deep germs and are from ears Tich in protein and oil, No. 35 being from the ear richest 
in protein of 1,600 tests, while Nos. 22, 23, 36 and 37 are from eais verv poor in feeding 
value, as the germs are very small. Ears with kernels having large germs are not only 
richer in oil, protein and ash, but also produce more vigorous plants with a larger yield. 
The two lower rows (1 to 20) illustrate the variations in depth of germ in kernels from 
different ears when cut in two crosswise of the germ about one-third the way from the tip 
to the crown of the kernel. Kernels 2, 14 and 18 have especially shallow gemis.' 




Fig. 71 — Strength and weakness are often shown clearly by examining the backs 
of the kernels. Nos. 1, 2, 10 and 12 have a large proportion of starchy mateiial, indicating 
immaturity. Such kernels have a dull, dead color and are sure to be low in vitality, as they 
are generally produced by late, weak stalks. The crown of No. 3 is very thin and weak. 
No. 11 is a poorly shaped kernel, and in addition is starchy and shrunken at tip. Being 
thin, as well as pointed, its vitality is very low. No. 4 is poor, in that the ciown is very 
thin and starchy; 5 and 12 are weak just above the tip, as the depression shows. Nos. 7 
and 14 are well developed, blight and strong; 6 and 13 are less perfect, but are still bright 
and cheerful kernels. All four cany the horny pait to the crown of the kernel. 

—72— 



results in soft corn. Dimensions for northern section of the 
corn belt, six and one-half to seven inches in circumference, 
central section, six 
and three - fourths 
to seven and one- 
fourth inches; south- 
ern section, seven to 
seven and three- 
fourth s inches. 
Measure the circum- 
ference at one-third 
the distance from 
the butt to the tip 
of the ear. 

11. Furrows 
Between Rows. 5 
Points. — The fur- 
rows between the 
rows of kernels 
should be of suffi- 
cient size to allow 
the corn to dry read- 
ily, but not so large 
as to lose in propor- 
tion of corn to cob. 

12. Space Be- 
tween Tips of Kernels at 
Cob. 10 Points. — This is 
very objectionable, as it in- 
dicates immaturity, poor con- 
stitution and poor feeding 
value and low per cent, of 
corn to cob. 

13. Proportion of Corn 
to Cob. 10 Points. — The 
proportion of corn is deter- 
mined by weight, depth of 
kernels, size of cob, maturity, 
furrows and space at cob; all 




Fig. 72 — These ears vary too much in type and char- 
acter of kernels. We should select toward some one type. 



W^W T*W "VaV' 




Fig. 73 — Kernels with large germs best 
for seed. Ears whose kernels have large 
germs or hearts are rich in feeding value; 
that is, have a larger per cent, of protein, 
oil and ash. They also give stronger plants 
and a larger yield. 



-73— 



affect the proportion. In determining the proportion of corn 
to cob, weigh and shell every alternate ear in the sample. 
Weigh the cobs and subtract from the weight of the ears, which 
will give the weight of the corn; divide the weight of the corn by 
the total weight of ears, which will give the per cent, of corn. 




Fig. 74 — From the Page County, Iowa, Experiment Station. The shock of stover 
and white corn at the left was grown from seed that has been carefully selected and grown 
in the county for several years. It is not an accident. 

_ Attention has been given to the selection and care of the seed with a view to securing 
a high yield and a high quality of corn for that particular district. The three "ars that 
are held by the man in the center of the group were produced upon three stalks in a single 
hill and weighed sixty-seven ounces on November 10. The twenty-three seed ears from 
this shock corded up on the ground beats tribute to the intelligent care given the seed 
corn by this man in the past. 

The stover, basket of corn and seed ears on the right were grown from seed that was 
furnished by another man, and how different are the results, yet hundreds, and it would 
be safe to say thousands, of acres of corn were grown from the same seed last year. 

Per cent, of corn should be from eighty-six to eighty-seven. For 
each per cent, short of standard, a cut of one and one-half 
points should be made. 

Each sample should consist of ten ears of corn. 



-74— 



CHAPTER VI 



IMPORTANCE OF THE CORN CROP 

The people of the United States at the beginning of the 
twentieth century are just waking up to the fact that King- 
Corn has really taken possession of the country. He has stolen 
in quietly, but so rapidly that this year he represents a value of 
$1,120,000,000, or more than the combined values of cotton 
and wheat. In the center of the corn belt, the value of the corn 
crop exceeds that of all the other crops combined. 

No other crop exerts so great an influence over the destinies 
of the enterprises of man. Yet this greatest of American crops 
has no long line of respectable and established customs and 
practices to guide us in its production. It is a new crop, only 
a few years from the hands of the Indian, when a few hills were 
planted and the entire crop ground in a stone cup; and it is but 
as yesterday that our fathers planted the corn crop with a hoe, 
and cared for it with the same hoe, aided by a one-horse culti- 
vator. Now and then, through the year, a half bushel or so 
was shelled and ground at the water mill for family use, but the 
chickens, pigs and horses received the balance of the crop, 
though only a few ears each day. No one can realize what a 
mighty change has been wrought by this crop who has not per- 
sonally seen the hoe give way to* the hand planter and in turn 
to the check rower, the five and six-acre to the eighty and one- 
hundred-acre fields, the little handful of hominy and meal by 
the miller to the multiude of different products now shipped 
daily from our factories by train loads to every country of the 
globe. 

But we are only in the beginning of the development of 
this great crop, and especially as regards production. A corn 
crop failure in the corn belt has never been known. The lowest 
yield ever produced in Iowa was fourteen bushels per acre, or 
about the average of the wheat crop of the United States. 

While the corn belt, that is, the region where corn exceeds 
in value any other crop, will gradually and rapidly extend to 

—75— 



the north, east and south, yet the really great problem for the 
farmer today is not how to grow more acres of corn, but how 

to produce greater returns 
from each acre and from each 
day's labor put upon that 
crop. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE CORN 
CROP. 

The great importance of 
the corn crop in the United 
States is shown by the fact 
that of 176,000,000 acres de- 
voted to all kinds of grains 
in 1905, 94,000,000 acres, or 
more than fifty - three per 
cent., were devoted to corn 
alone. In this same year, 
the value of all the cereals 
grown in the United States 
was SI, 840,000,000. Of this 
amount, SI, 116,000,000 worth, 
or more than fifty-five per 
cent., was credited to the corn 
crop. Six states lying in the 
middle west, Iowa v Illinois, 
Missouri, Kansas and Indiana, 
produced one - half of this 
enormous crop. 

The table on the following 
page gives the average annual 
production of grains in the 
United States for the five 
years 1901 to 1905 inclusive. 

CROPS OF THE NATION. 

There is a common im- 
pression that both hay and 
cotton exceed in value the 
corn crop. 




Fig. 75 — Uniformity in Height of Ears. 

Fig. 75 shows two hills of corn. No. i has 
two stalks, each of which has produced a 
good ear. Both stalks are strong and vig- 
orous and the ears are of uniform height. 
Hill 2. produced three stalks, each of which 
bore an ear at a uniform and desirable height. 
This is an evidence of good breeding. Uni- 
formity in height of ear is not so important 
as uniformity of kernels, but it is important 
in that it indicates good breeding and, in 
ears of the same variety, a uniform time of 
ripening. If each of the 3,556 hills per acre 
produced an average of two very small ears 
like those in hill No. 1, weighing eleven and 
13 ounces, it would make a yield of seventy- 
six bushels; three ears like those in hill No. 
2, averaging fourteen ounces each, would 
make the yield one hundred and thirty-three 
bushels, or one hundred and three bushels 
more than the average for the corn belt. 



-76— 



Kinds of Grain 



iiT-ii- c Yield per 

Millions of Acf / in 

Acres Bushels 



Millions of 
Bushels 



Value ■ Per Cent 
in Millions of Total 
of Dollars Value 





91.8 

47.2 


24.9 
13.9 


2292 
660 


1019 

472 


54 . 6 


Wheat 


25.3 




28.1 


30.9 


871 


284 


15.2 


Barley 


4.8 


27.0 


130 


55 


2.9 


Rye 


1.4 


15.8 


29 


17 


.9 


Rice* 


.5 


30.0 


17 


13 


. t 


Buckwheat 


.8 


18.5 


14 


8 


A 



* Average for 1904-5 only. 




Fig. 76 — Fiom the Stoiy County, Iowa, Expeiiment Station. 
One man's corn may yield eighty bushels per acre, while that of another man wil' 
yield less than forty bushels when grown side by side, under the same conditions. Each 
spring, samnles of seed corn ate gathered from about one hundred farmers throughout 
the county. These samples are taken to the County Poor Farm, where they are planted by 
hand, three kernels per hill, each sample being repeated three times in different parts of 
the field. In a test of ninety-four samples, in 1904, the average yield of the five highest 
was seventy-seven bushels per acie, while that of the five lowest was but thirty-five bushels 
per acre, and of an inferior quality. Each county should have an Experiment Station on 
the County Poor Farm for the benefit of the two thousand to three thousand farmers in 
the county. 

The following table shows that the value of the corn crop 
annually exceeds the combined value of both the hay and the 
cotton crops: 



—77— 



Crop 



Amount 



Value 



Corn 

Cotton 

Wheat 

Hay.. 

Oats 

Potatoes. . . 

Barley 

Tobacco . . . 

Rye 

Rice 

Buckwheat 



2,708 

10 

692 

60 

953 

260 

136 

814 

28 

13 

14 



000,000 
500,000 
900,000 
500,000 
200,000 
700,000 
600,000 
300,000 
400,000 
600,000 
,500,000 



bu. 

bales 

bu. 

tons 

bu. 

bu. 

bu. 

lbs. 

bu. 

bu. 

bu. 



$1,116,600,000 

556,800,000 

518,300,000 

515,900,000 

277,000,000 

160,800,000 

55,000,000 

53,600,000 

17,400,000 

12,900,000 

8,500,000 




Fig. 77— Seed Coin Special Trains. 
Map showing stops made by seed corn special trains in Iowa during 1904, 1905 and 
1906 — 11,000 miles were covered; 789 stops were made; 1,265 lectures were given to 
145,700 people in sixty-seven days. 

INCREASE IN THE PRODUCTION OF CORN 

The following table shows the rate of increase of corn pro- 
duction in the United States fdr the last fifty years. It will be 
noticed that the increase is not a gradual one, but quite fluctuat- 
ing, due to the rapid cleveloment of the great corn states of the 
middle west during the last half century. The corn lands of the 



—78- 



United States are practically all developed and the increase in the 
future will be due largely to careful seed selection and breeding, 
and to better cultivation, not to an extension of the producing 
area. 



Year 



Yield in Bushels 



1830. 
1860. 
1870. 
1880. 
1890. 
1900. 



192,000,000 
836,000,000 
760,000,000 
1,754,000,000 
2,122,300,000 
2,666,400,000 
1905 2,707,000,000 



41.7 per cent increase. 

9 . 3 per cent decrease. 

130.6 per cent increase. 

21.0 per cent increase. 

20.0 per cent increase. 

1 . 3 per cent increase. 




Fig. 78 — Listening to a Lecture on the "Seed Corn Special." 



IOWA S CORN CROP 

The value of Iowa's corn crop is approximately $120,000,- 
000 annually, not including the value of the fodder, or more 
than one-eighth of the entire crop of the United States, and 

—79— 



nearly equals the total value of all the other crops grown in the 
state. 

WHAT BECOMES OF THE CORN CROP? 

It is estimated that seventy-five .per cent, of the corn crop 
is consumed on the farm, that fifteen per cent, is used for man- 
ufacturing purposes, that is, goes to the glucose and starch 
factories and to the distilleries, and that ten per cent, is ex- 
ported. 

There is no other plant from which so many products are 
made, more than one hundred and fifty products being made 




r9 — After the Lecture at the Seed Corn Special 



from the stalk, cob and grain. The. following are among some 
of the more important: several kinds of corn flour or meal, 
starches, sugars, candies, syrups, alcohol, whiskies, oils, salad 
dressing, rubber, hominy, brewer's grits, cellulose, mucilage, 
paste, dextrine, beer, gluten feed, germ oil cake, pipes, paper, 
etc. 

The corn flour aside from being used for cakes, bread, etc., 
alone, is largely used, mixed with wheat flour, for cooking pur- 
poses. It is the opinion of many of the best cooks that the 
mixture makes better muffins, cakes, etc., than either the wheat 
or the corn flour used separately. 

—80— 



The starches are used in pastry, the laundry, in the man- 
ufacture of baking powders, and in the cotton and paper mills. 

The dextrines are used in pastries, and in the manufacture 
of glues, mucilages of many kinds, paper and cloth boxes, and 
various fabrics. The sugars and glucoses of many grades enter 
largely into manufacture of the best candies, table syrups, 
jellies, preserves, etc. 




Fig. 80 — Scene at annual picnic at the County Farm, Taylor County, Iowa. More 
than three thousand people attended this picnic. The field experiments were of great 
interest to everyone. To the right under the tiees were a group of boys judging coin, and 
during the day judged classes of live stock. 



The brewer's glucose and grits are used extensively in the 
manufacture of beer, both in this country and in Europe. 

The oil which comes from the chit or heart of the kernel 
is used very largely for cooking purposes, in the preparation 
of salad oils and dressings, as a rubber substitute for water- 
proof coats, in the manufacture of soaps, etc. 

The alcohol, aside from forming the basis of the whiskey 

—81— 



business, is used commercially in more than a thousand differ- 
ent ways. With the tax removed, alcohol will come rapidly 
into use for cooking, lighting, heating and for power. 

The stalks and husks, in addition to forming one of the 
most important forage crops, are used in the manufacture of 
mattresses, cellulose and paper. It would be impossible to 
enumerate all the uses to which cellulose alone is put. It is 
used in the packing of the wall spaces in battleships, as a packing 
for deadening and as a non-conductor of heat and electricity. 
It also enters into the manufacture of smokeless powder and 
other explosives. 

The cobs are largely used as fuel, for pipes, and, when ground, 
as an adulterant for wheat bran. 

In the manufacture of alcohol there is considerable waste 
material, known as distillery slop, which is used for feeding pur- 
poses. The refuse from one bushel of corn will feed one steer 
one day, so that a distillery consuming five thousand bushels 
of corn per day will have on feed about 5,000 head of cattle. 
Two lots, or 10,000, will be fed and sold during the year. 

COMPOSITION OF CORN 

The following table shows approximately the composition 
of shelled corn under ordinary conditions. 

Starch 70 . per cent. 

Water 12 . per cent. 

Protein 10 . per cent. 

Oil 4.3 per cent. 

Fiber 2.2 per cent. 

Ash of mineral matter 1.5 per cent. 

When the corn is received at a glucose factory, it is first 
soaked, then ground, and the germ is separated from the rest 
of the material. The germ is then dried, ground, steamed and 
pressed to remove the oil. The cake which remains contains 
a high per cent, of protein and oil, and is known as germ oil 
cake, being used extensively for feed. The protein and other 
material which is washed out of the starch, when mixed with 
the bran and ground together, is called gluten feed. 



— 82— 



CHAPTER VII 



CORN 



Corn, Indian corn, or maize (Zea Mays) is native to Amer- 
ica. It was not known to Europe, Asia or Africa before the dis- 
covery of America. It is found in the mounds of the Mound 
Builders, a race of people who inhabited America prior to the 
Indians. In the Smithsonian Institute, at Washington, may be 
seen specimens of corn taken from the tombs of the ancients. 
One specimen of corn was found eleven feet underground in a 
jar buried in a grave with a mummy. 

The best evidence at hand would seem to point to Central 
America as the original home of Indian corn. 

Corn, like wheat and oats, belongs to the grass family, is 
an annual, but, unlike most of the other grasses, produces its 
grain on one or more shoots from the joints on the side of the 
stalk. 

There are six different classes, or races, of corn: 

POP CORN 

The pop corns are generally smaller than the field corns, 
have many suckers, and the kernels are small, hard and flinty. 
There is a very small proportion of the white floury-looking 
material in the kernels. 

SWEET CORN 

The characteristics of the sweet corns are less starch and 
more sugar than in other kinds, and it also remains in the 
"doughy," or "roasting ear" stage much longer, and the kernels 
are much wrinkled when thoroughly matured or ripened. They 
are especially valuable for canning, boiling or roasting, and some 
of the varieties, like the Stowell's Evergreen, are much used for 
fodder. ' 

POD CORN 

Pod corn, or husk corn, is of no special value as a field crop, 

—83 — 




being grown merely as a 
curiosity. Each kernel 
is enclosed in husks, but 
in other respects it is 
like ordinary field corn. 

FLOUR CORX 

The kernel of the 
flour corn is shaped like 
those of the flint varie- 
ties, but unlike them in 
that the entire kernel 
except the germ is made 
up of soft, starchy or 
floury appearing mate- 
rial. There is no hard, 
horny material. It has 
been frequently used to 
adulterate wheat flour. 
It is supposed that this 
was the corn originally 
grown by the Indians. 

FLINT CORX 

The flint varieties are 
smaller and earlier .than 
the dent varieties, and 
are grown in those sec- 
tions or states north of 
w T hat is known as the 
"corn belt." When flint 
corn begins to ripen and 
harden, the kernels 
glaze, or harden, on the 



Fig. 81 — Three well-balanced 
stalks in a single hill with three 
good ears weighing forty - two 
ounces. If each hill bore only- 
half as much, the yield would be 
sixty-six and one-half bushels per 
acre, or more than double that of 
the corn belt. 



si 



outside first, and as a consequence the crown and sides of the 
kernel are hard and "flinty," leaving the soft and floury portion 
in the center of the kernel. The kernels have no dent, and 
are broad and rounded, leaving deep furrows between the rows 
of corn on the ear. One stalk will often produce two or three 
ears, but they are generally small, with only eight or ten, or 
occasionally twelve, rows. 

DENT CORN 

Practically all of the corn produced in the great "corn belt" 
of the United States belongs to this class. There are many va- 
rieties, differing widely in 
color, size and time of ma- 
turity, but the indentation at 
the crown of the kernel, which 
gives to this class the name 
of "dent corn," is character- 
istic of all the varieties. The 
sides of the kernels are hard 
and horny, but the crown and 
the central portion are soft 
and starchy in appearance. 

VARIETIES OF CORN 

THE IOWA SILVER MINE 



/ Stalk 










I'hSttlk'i 








2 








20. . 








3 




m. ■ 






4 






44 ■■ 






S •• 







Bu pet act»l 

41.1 

4t.l 

U.b 

70.3 

84. J 

m 

$5.8 

90.9 



Fig. 82 — Number stalks per hill experi- 
ment average of four counties, Story, Polk, 
Marshall and Page, Iowa, 1905. In each 
of the four counties, the' experiment was 
repeated three times. Hills three and one- 
half feet apart each way. The corn was 
planted by hand. The one and one-half 
kernels per hill were planted one kernel in 
the first hill, two kernels in the second hill, 
etc. 



This is a medium-early 
white corn, very popular in 

many sections, and well adapted to the northern half of Illinois 
and the southern two-thirds of Iowa. The ear carries its size 
w T ell down to the tip, has from sixteen to twenty rows, and 
should be from seven to seven and one-fourth inches in circum- 
ference and about nine inches long. The kernels are rather thin, 
but deep, with a pinched dent, giving a rough appearance. The 
kernel is a tapering wedge, with straight sides and rounded tip, 
but is inclined to be somewhat chaffy. Matures in one hundred 
and ten to one hundred and twenty days. 

This variety was originated by J. H. Beagley, of Ford 
County, Illinois, from a sample of corn exhibited at the County 



—85— 



Farmers" Institute. After several years of close breeding the 
type became remarkably well fixed. At this time the Iowa 
Seed Company bought Mr. Beagley's entire stock and named 
it the "Iowa Silver Mine." It is one of the best white corns, 
especially adapted to the medium and thinner soils. Unusual 
care should be taken in planting the Silver Mine corn. Owing 
to the broad, deep kernel, there is danger of a thin stand unless 
the proper plates are used in the planter. 



THE LEAMINCx CORN 

The Learning variety of corn was developed by J. S. Learn- 
ing while living at Wilmington, Ohio. Mr. Learning began mak- 

i n g selections for 
seed from the yellow 
corn grown in Ham- 
ilton County on the 
"Little Miami Bot- 
toms." This was in 
1826. As soon as 
the husks indicated 
that the corn was 
beginning to ma- 
ture, Mr. Learning 
would go through 
his corn, selecting or 
marking seed ears 
for next year's 
planting. He sought 
ears well filled with 
straight rows of ker- 
nels and ears that 
were among the ear- 
liest to mature. He 
also took note of the character of the stalks growing these 
seed ears. Mr. Learning selected his seed corn for fifty-six years 
with the idea of fixing a definite type. His son, J. S. Learn- 
ing, Jr., continues his father's work of selection. 

Mr. Chester, of Champaign, Illinois, obtained seed from Mr. 
Learning in 1885. Since that time he has been selecting seed 




Pig. 83 — Scrubs. The stalks upon which these ears 
grew produced millions of grains of pollen to fertilize 
the silks of the good ears. 



86 



corn from those ears showing the first ripened husks. He has 
practiced planting this corn in isolated fields to prevent crossing. 
This variety of corn has shown some characteristics that 
appear quite marked. The ears are tapering, number of rows 
sixteen to twenty-four, with a tendency to drop rows near the 
middle or tip of the ear; kernels wedge shaped, with square-set 
corners and nearly straight edges, indentation long or creased 
to pinched dent; color of grain a clear yellow; size of ear differs 
with locality where raised; the butts and tips are not as uniformly 
regular and symmetrical as in the case of Reid's Yellow Dent 
corn. 




Fig. 84 — Two different men's corn, grown side by side under the same conditions. 
The seed was taken from their planter boxes and planted by hand, three kernels per hill. 
One man's seed was harvested in November, and he did not "go to the trouble" of testing six 
kernels from each ear. He "never had any trouble with his seed corn." His yield was 
34.6 bushels per acre, with half a stand. The other man's yield was 67.2 bushels per acre. 
He was willing to "go to the trouble of testing six kernels from each ear." 

It is certain that many of our present varieties of yellow 
corn have been developed from the Learning seed. The Learn- 
ing corn is now quite generally raised in manrady ts of the corn 
belt. It is a good yielder and particularly strong and vigorous, 
earlier than the Boone County White, but later than the Silver 
Mine and Reid's Yellow Dent, and especially adapted to the 



-87— 



central portion of the corn belt. Matures in one hundred and fif- 
teen to one hundred and twenty-five days. 

THE LEGAL TENDER 

While shelling corn in 1876, Nims Brothers, of Emerson, 
Iowa, noticed two distinct types of ears. One was a short ear 
with deep grains and from twenty to twenty-four rows of ker- 
nels, the other was a long ear with from twelve to sixteen rows 
and well-formed kernels. By crossing these two types a variety 
was developed by careful selection of seed which has been fol- 
lowed up for twenty-seven years. The points of excellence which 
the Nims Brothers have attempted to secure are as follows: 

1. Early maturity. 

2. Large yield. 

3. Pure yellow corn. 

4. Ears carrying size well from butt to tip. 

5. Kernels holding full size well to tip of ear. 

6. Grains holding size well down to cob. 

7. Butt and tip well filled out. 

8. Cob smalland not too large. 

9. Kernels firm on cob. Ten grains laid end to end should 

measure six to six and one-half inches. 

10. Small, neat shank, easy to husk. 

The ideal Legal Tender ear should have twenty rows, have 
a circumference three-fourths of its length, should be ten to 
twelve inches long, seven to eight inches in circumference, should 
shell out twelve to fourteen ounces per ear and give eighty-six 
per cent, shelled corn. Time to mature one hundred and twenty 
to one hundred and thirty days. 

REID's YELLOW DENT 

Mr. Robert Reid moved from Brown County, Ohio, to Taze- 
well County, Illinois, in the spring of 1846. He brought with 
him a variety of corn known at that time as Gordon Hopkins 
corn. This was a reddish-colored corn grown quite generally 
in the Red Oak settlement, where Mr. Reid lived. 

Mr. Reid planted this corn on his newly purchased farm 
near Delavan, Illinois. It was late in the spring before it was 
planted, and his harvest showed immature corn, though it gave 



LOFC. 



a fair yield. Mr. Reid selected the best of it for seed the next 
year, but on account of the immaturity of the corn he had a poor 
stand. The field was replanted, or rather planted in with seed 
of the Little Yellow corn. It thus became mixed corn, but was 
kept pure from that time onward. Thereafter, from 1847 to 
date, fifty-seven years, this corn has been carefully selected for 
certain characteristics. 

The peculiar dimple dent and shape of kernels with creased 
germs, the shape of ear, remarkable filling out of tips and butts, 
the high per cent of corn to cob and a finished or cultured 
appearance are among the strongest characteristics of the Reid's 
Yellow Dent corn. 

Occasionally a very deep yellow, or even reddish yellow, 
appears, but generally the grain is a light or pale yellow. There 
is seldom but little soft corn, even the nubbins being solid. The 
original type shows a tapering ear, small and poorly filled out, 
with a small number of rows of kernels. 

This offers one of the best illustrations of the value of intel- 
ligent selection. This variety is one of the best bred varieties 
of yellow dent corn. The original type of kernel was of the shoe 
peg style with the dimple dent. This seems to be giving place 
to a broader kernel and an elongated rather than a dimple dent. 
The former kernel has a smooth seed coa,t. There is a uniform- 
ity of color, finish and shape of ear which has made it a great 
favorite in the ring. During the last few years Mr. Reid has 
been breeding toward a rougher type, which gives a deeper ker- 
nel and a larger, later corn. 

This corn has sometimes been known as the "World's Fair" 
corn since the Chicago Exposition in 1893, where it won first 
prize. During the last few years it has come into prominence, 
and is now extensively grown in central Illinois and is rapidly 
extending westward. In Illinois it is considered a medium-early 
corn. It seems to be well adapted to the north-central portion 
of the corn belt. This would be represented by the region lying 
between Bloomington and Chicago and by the south half of 
Iowa, although many parties are growing it successfully as far 
north as Mason City, Iowa. This variety has won more pre- 
miums in the great corn contests than all the other varieties put 
together. 

—89— 



BOONE COUNTY WHITE 



This corn is a standing testimony to the good work of Mr. 
James Riley. Mr. Riley lived in Boone County, Indiana, and 
has rendered a valuable service to the world by his work in the 
breeding of corn. Mr. Riley had a large variety of corn known 
as the White Mastodon. In 1876 he picked over his seed of this 
corn, selecting for what he believed a desirable type of corn. He 
planted this special seed in an isolated field, and began changing 
the large, coarse type of white corn by selection. After several 
years of careful study and selection he produced the type of white 
corn he desired to raise, and named it after his home county. 

The kernel is a large, broad, deep kernel, approaching the 
broadly rounded wedge type, with a good full tip, upright attach- 
ment at cob and fitting well together in the row from tip to crown 
of kernel. The dent type is moderate to deep creased dent with 
slightly roughened projections. There should be no approach to 
the pinched dent, as this reduces the thickness of the kernel 
crown, an undesirable feature in the Boone County White. This 
corn is one of the largest of the white corn varieties, and there- 
fore must have a longer season to mature than the Silver Mine. 
The shape of the ear is slowly tapering, length approaches ten 
inches and has an average circumference of seven and one-half 
inches. It matures in from one hundred and twenty-five to one 
hundred and thirty-five days. It is well adapted to the south- 
ern half of the corn belt — that is, south of a line drawn through 
Burlington, Iowa. 

Mr. Riley seems to have been one of the first corn raisers 
who sought to increase the productiveness of his corn by cutting 
out the barren stalks, improving both the yield and quality 
of his corn. When the type he sought to fix has been modified 
by both the grower and the region where grown, still it remains 
one of the most distinct and best varieties of white corn, with 
well-shaped kernels, firmly set on a medium to large-sized cob. 
It is especially well adapted to rich, strong soils and to river bot- 
toms. It does not stand drought as well as the Silver Mine, but 
is a large yielder under favorable conditions. It requires a long 
season to mature, but ripens well in the south half of Indiana 
and Illinois and in the very southern part of Nebraska, the south- 



—90- 



western part of Iowa and through Missouri and the eastern part 
of Kansas. 

ri ley's favorite 

This variety is a yellow dent corn originated by Mr. James 
Riley in 1885. Mr. Riley desired a larger corn than the Pride of 
the North, quite generally raised in the northern portions of the 
dent-corn belt, yet one that would mature in his locality in In- 
diana. He therefore crossed two varieties, producing a hybrid 
corn. This he carefully planted year by year in an isolated place. 
Here he gave it the best of culture, cut out the diseased, weak 
stalks, permitting only the hardy and more vigorous stalks to 
bear pollen. Mr. Riley named this variety "Riley's Favorite," 
and sought by selection to fix a type of desirable yellow corn that 
would mature in but little more than one hundred days. For 
this reason he selected for seed a medium-sized ear with small 
cob from a stalk of medium height. He and others have found 
much trouble in fixing a definite type of this corn. There seems 
to be a tendency to revert to one or the other of the crossed types. 

The type Mr. Riley seems to have sought was a dent corn 
with a slowly tapering ear nine inches long, seven inches in cir- 
cumference; rows distinctly paired and straight; number of rows 
fourteen to eighteen, with sixteen as an average; pinched dent, 
with tendency of kernels to be beaked; kernels straight, wedge 
shaped, with a moderately rounded tip; cob red and small; 
shank attachment to stalk medium to small; color of grain a 
clear yellow. Matures in one hundred to one hundred and fifteen 
days. 

It is not possible, nor would it be profitable to go into an 
extended description of the multitude of different varieties of 
corn in the United States, but enough has been said to show how 
some of the best varieties have been developed. 



Not more acres of corn, but "another nubbin of corn to 
each hill," should be the motto of every farmer in the corn belt. 

One small ear of corn to each hill on the 3,556 hills per acre 
will make a yield of thirty-eight bushels. 



LITTLE "NUBBINS" 



Drudgery is labor without thought. 

Poor seed means poor stand and weak stalks. 

Getting our heads into the game is half the battle. 

The farmer who makes two ears of corn grow where but 
one grew before is a "public benefactor." 

There are many, things which will reduce the yield of our 
corn crop even though we plant* the best of seed. 

Cause of low yield — poor stand; stalks "fooling around 
all summer doing little or nothing;" these are the greatest 
causes of a low yield. 

The most precious thing in this world is the labor of a 
human being. Yet hours are wasted every day on vacant 
ground and worthless stalks. 

To make a good crop of corn requires good land, good seed, 
good care, and back of all these must be a great man, a man 
who mixes brains with his labor. 

No man has a moral right to himself and family, or to the 
community in which he lives, to guess that the 800 kernels on 
an ear will grow and produce strong plants. 

"If the corn fields of the Untied States were mine and I 
could give but one order, that order would be, 'To test six 
kernels of corn from every ear of seed intended for planting.' " 

Poor seed means missing hills, one-stalk hills, and weak 
stalks, producing little or nothing. It means wasted land and 
wasted labor. It means less than thirty bushels of corn per 
acre in the "corn belt," instead of forty or forty-five bushels. 

If every ear of corn intended for planting next spring 
was harvested not later than the middle of October and hung 
up in the attic where it could dry out thoroughly before the 
bitter cold freezes of November and December, millions of 
dollars would be added to the value of next year's corn crop. 

—92— 




' I ''HE unparalleled success of the American Farmer is largely due to his insistence upon having the 
•*• best of everything in tools and machinery. He is shrewd enough to know that this, in the end, is 
cheapest. By meeting the demand for first-class farm vehicles and by utilizing every known means 
of improvement in materials and machinery, the Studebakers have achieved and maintained su- 
premacy as makers of wagons to the American Farmer. The Studebaker Farm Wagon is practical. 
It is the strongest and lightest running wagon made. Every inch of wood in it is carefully selected, 
air dried and perfectly seasoned. Every piece of iron, every bolt, rivet and nail is without flaw. 
Every axle, skein, spoke, springs and bracing is tested far beyond its required strength. When you 
buy a Studebaker wagon, you get a wagon "with a reputation behind it"; a wagon made by the 
greatest vehicle concern in the world. The Studebaker plant covers 101 acres. Every class of 
wagon and vehicle for farm and agricultural service is made here by the greatest force of skilled 
craf'smen in the vehicle industry. Over 1,000,000 Studebaker Vehicles are in daily use. 

STUDEBAKER AGENTS will be found everywhere. They will show you the points of 

Studebaker superiority and will prove each point. Visit the agent nearest you. If you don't know 

who he is, write us and we will tell you. STUDEBAKER HARNESS matches Studebaker 

wagons and other vehicles in reliability and supplies the shrewd American demand for the best. 

STUDEBAKER CARRIAGES are the best appreciated when it is known that President 

Roosevelt and Vice-President Fairbanks use the Studebaker Brougham and lighter vehicles 

exclusively. STUDEBAKER AUTOMOBILES both gasolene and electric, supply the 

demand for common sense cars. The motorist who wants a car he can trust, can safely trust 



the Studebaker. 

STUDEBAKER BROS. MFG. 



CO., SOUTH BEND, IND. 



REPOSITORIES : New York City: Broadway & 7th Ave. at 48th St. Chicago, 
111.: 378-388 Wabash Ave. Kansas City, Mo.: 13th & Hickory Sts. San 
Francisco, Cal.: Cor. Market & 10th Sts. Portland, Ore.: 330-336 
East Morrison St. Salt Lake City, Utah: 157-159 State St. Dallas, Tex: 
317-319 Elm St. Denver, Colo.: Cor. 15th & Blake Sts. 
Factory and Executive Offices: SOUTH BEND, INDIANA. 



Superior Grain Drills 

"The Name Tells a True Story." 



JC 




Copyright, 1906, 
Superior Drill Co. 



SEND FOR CATALOGUES. 



THE SUPERIOR DRILL CO., SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



Superior Disc Harrows on Wheels, Gang Harrows, Cutaway 

Harrows, Corn Drills, Corn Planters, Grain 

Drills and Potato Planters 




J.I. CASE 



SELF-LEVELING 
HIGH 



Foot Lift Sulky Plow 



2 POINTS 

Only are mentioned here. 

Point ] ^ ne P usn on the foot lever lifts the plow bottom 

from plowing position 6 inches in the ground to 6 
inches above the ground and levels the frame. 
That's where the J. I. Case gets the name iSelf- 
Leveling High Foot-Lift Sulky Plow. 

Point 2. Heel of Landside can be quickly and easily raised 
or lowered. What for? To remove all friction from 
under side of landside and share, except right at 
the point, which means a LIGHT DRAFT plow. 
And it means further that the owner of a J. I. Case 
sulky can plow hard ground whenever he wishes 
— don't have to wait 3 or 4 weeks for rain to mel- 
low the ground. 



More J. I. Case Points to be had for the asking, 
ask for our illustrated catalogue. 
Address Dept. 10 A. 



P>e sure to 



J. I. CASE PLOW WORKS, 
RACINE, WIS.. U. S. A. 



OC I «4 1906 







Farmer is Willing and Anx- 
to Double his Earning Capacity. 



The Kelly 

Duplex 

Grinding 



Mill 



Ts a necessity to every Wide-Awake Farmer. With its use you 
double the value of your feed; getting 1 twice as much from a 
bushel of corn and cob, or corn, cob and husk, or shelled corn or 
any other kind of gVain, as you would by any other process. 
Isn't that 

AN ECONOMICAL WAY OF 
DOUBLING YOUR MONEY? 

No farmer can afford to be without a Kelly Duplex Grinding' 

Mill. We want you to know all about them — its worth your 
while — so let us send you our illustrated catalogue, which gives 
valuable and practical information concerning the real economy 
of ground feed. A double or duplex set of burrs in the miil 
doubles its capacity, hence 
called "Duplex." Ask your 
local dealer about them or 
send to us for further inter- 
esting details. Do it now, 
because every day you are 
without one means addi- 
tional expense to you. 



The 0. S. Kelly 
Company, 

Springfield, Ohio, U. S. A. 




